CSB - Heath Mills - CE of the NZ Cricket Players' Association

On cricket in the Olympics and the greed that is the IOC. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
From the rugby field to the rotary shed. It's the
Country Sport Breakfast with Brian Kelly on Gold Sport out
of New Zealand Cricket Players Association. Heath Mills joining us today,
and Heath, I've got to say number one, good morning
and congratulations on a wonderful article who've written about the
Olympic Games.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Good morning by and I think thanks for that. I
sort of did a little bit hesitatingly because I know,
you know, we all love watching the athletes at the
Olympics and it gives you a great sense of pride,
and I love their performances, but I just are continually
frustrated with how the IOC runs its organization and treats them.
And in both the.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
Text pass absolutely. I mean the athletes, no doubt being celebrated,
powis to be celebrated. But the IOC and the money,
I mean, it's moonbeams, isn't it that they just throw
out these games at taxpayers expenses.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, they generate about US eight billion dollars or not
quite each cycle of the games, and it really is
a commercial juggernaut. And so that it became so followed
in about the nine to eighty four games in Los
Angeles with the forecast, television rights, et cetera. And that's fine.
You know, there's lots of commercial sports out there, and

(01:12):
we operate as we do. But these people, they don't
pay the athletes. They don't pay them a single cent.
And I find that, well, they stand alone in a
professional sport in that respect. I find it staggering because
they've got us captured with the sense of nationalism and
in cities and countries around the world will buy the

(01:32):
host of games and screen spend billions and billions of dollars,
of which politicians, you know, look good and properly developers
make a lot of money, but the taxpayers and those
places end up funding the games from which for generations
to come from which the IOC then makes this eight billion.
And it's sort of exacerbated for me when they don't
pay the athletes a cent and they and I get

(01:54):
we will get told that it's great from crickets. Respect
is about to go into the twenty eight Games. It's
wonderful for cricket because all the national cricket organizations around
the world and now going to get funding from their
governments because they're an Olympic sport, and that just tells
me taxpayers are once again been asked to fund cricket
and a lot of the big professional sports in the Games.

(02:17):
Yet Cricket's are multi billion dollar a year business. So
this doesn't add up to me, and I don't think
it's fair and I don't think it's right.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
And we've sat there and we've watched the metals being
handed out, and it's great that we've done so well,
but there are IOC members that are there handing out
those members representing the various countries, they're all there again,
are being funded by the IOC. Everything's paid for, first
class travel, a whole lot. Aren't they even going to
get a very good fee per day?

Speaker 2 (02:45):
It's just great if you can get it. Yeah, yeah,
there is, And I think I just find it. I
actually find it really disturbing. There's so many people make
a lot of money out of the games, media broadcast,
as sponsors, as I said before, properly, developers, and the
list goes on and on and on. But the people

(03:06):
in the middle that we're watching don't get paid a seat.
And then the people who can get involved in the system,
as i'd call it, they all get paid per deems
actual fact that the people who are there as members
and every other hanger on are each paid fees each day,
and they earn more than the athletes. And we've convinced

(03:27):
ourselves will people have convinced us that that's okay and
everyone should go there for the athletes should go there
for nothing. And I just love there to be a
more in depth discussion about it, and particularly it's starting
to actually really bug me that tax payers are because
that's what it is, and people so government's fund this
and government's fund that. And look, governments should fund some sport,
the non commercial sports, for sure, because they promote kids

(03:50):
to get involved in healthy lifestyles, et cetera. I'm a
big fan of that. But the big commercial sports, well
on Earth, the tax payers are expected to fund them.
That needs to change.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
You mentioned in your in your article. And Lord Sebastian
co has gone against the IOC in a way because
he's actually agreed to pay each gold medallist in track
and field or was it fifty thousand US in Paris?

Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, which was like I loved hearing that, so he's know.
The isic was so well, we give all the sports
some solidarity payments from the money, and they do, but
that obviously is spent by those sports on their bureaucracies.
The money doesn't go to athletes. But Lord Coe has decided, Look,
the athletes deserved to be earning something from what they

(04:34):
helped generate off he's paying each God we've lost the
hamishcure in New Zealand, God on them will get us
fifty thousand dollars. But he was condemned by the IOC
movement for doing so, so I think we can. I
think Sebastian co is vying for the presidency of the IOC.
I'm sure that's now imperial because he's trying to do
the right thing by the athlete.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
He rocked the boat, isn't he.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (04:58):
So, how do you feel about cricket being involved in
the Los Angeles Olympics in four years from now?

Speaker 2 (05:05):
I just have very mixed views on it, Brian. I
am cricket's already a big sport. No one can tell
me it's going to grow more by being in the Olympics.
They're smoke and mirrors around that argument. We already have
an ICC World Cup every year now. The calendar is
ridiculously crowded as it is, and the only other reason

(05:27):
I question administrators around the world as to why they're
doing it. The only answer I get is that, well,
it's great because national trick organizations will now be funded
by governments, which I just think is morally wrong given
we're a big commercial Jacob. Effectively, it's a form of
corporate social welfare. And so yeah, the players, our players
are quite sophisticated around these matters and they've got questions.

(05:50):
But of course, you know, any person will look at
the Olympics and say, well, a wonderful thing, and I'd
like to be there. So I have very mixed views
about it, and I would love there to be bigger
discussion in the blowtorch put on how the IOC operates.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
Well, again, congratulations on the article that you've written, and
you asked the question in there, what other industry or
sector would get away with asking people to work for
two weeks, sell the fruits of their labor, and not
pay them a cent for it. And that's a very
relevant piece with a lot of people involved, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
I think so, Brian. It makes no sense to me,
and we would not accept that anywhere else. We're just
sort of blinded by the nationalism around it, so we
think it's okay. But to be fair, I don't think
people really understand how the IOC operates in what a
commercial dragon, what it does, and I just hope that
people might ask a few more questions now.

Speaker 1 (06:42):
Sebastian co for president. Hey, nice to chat he thank
you so much for chatting.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
Thanks for having me. All the best, Brian