Three world-class swimmers filed a lawsuit in the U.S., "challenging what they allege is the monopoly world governing body FINA has over the control of international competitions," according to Gene Cherry of REUTERS. The lawsuit, brought on behalf of three-time Olympic Gold Medalist Katinka Hosszu of Hungary and U.S. world champions Tom Shields and Michael Andrew, followed the cancellation of a new professional swimming event scheduled for Dec. 20-21 in Turin. The lawsuit, which the trio said was filed "on behalf of elite swimmers around the world," said, "FINA's insistence that the world's best swimmers may compete only on FINA's terms and its efforts to enforce that rule are nakedly anti-competitive." The Italian federation said that FINA had threatened sanctions against those swimmers taking part in the event, which was put together by organizers of the Int'l Swimming League (REUTERS, 12/9). In London, Craig Lord reported the ISL, run by Ukraine power-sector tycoon Konstantin Grigorishin, intends to test FINA under anti-trust laws in the U.S. Similar action "is planned in Europe," and it is believed Grigorishin and his representatives are talking to senior figures in athletics with a view to "challenges beyond the pool." Britain’s Adam Peaty and a host of other Olympic swimming champions and world-record holders are "due to meet Grigorishin and lawyers for the ISL to discuss the next moves." Peaty backed the legal case lodged with the North California District Court late on Friday with details of how FINA, a "non-profit" organization that recently spent $22M on a new HQ in Lausanne, took in $118M in '17 but spent only 12.5% of that on prize money for all athletes across five Olympic sports. Peaty: "And a lot of that [$118M] was paid into non-prestigious 'World Cups' which most of the best athletes don't attend and in return do not grow the sport at all." ISL legal documents reveal that FINA leaders asked for $50M in return for "approval." That has "angered many" within the organization, whose leadership is wedded to a financial model that pays around 5% of revenue to swimmers and a "far greater amount in support of the world’s biggest sports bureaucracy." The ISL has pledged that 50% of all league revenue will go to swimmers (LONDON TIMES, 12/8).
