Bill Beacon

MONTREAL (CP) - It's down to the wire for the world aquatic championships.

The 22-member FINA bureau and the organization's president, Mustapha Larfaoui, are to meet in Frankfurt on Wednesday to decide whether to cancel the July 17-31 Montreal event, which faces a major shortfall in revenue.

Calgary-based Eldon Godfrey is the lone Canadian on the bureau that heads FINA, the world governing body for aquatic sports. He's hopeful but hardly confident that the event can be saved.

"It's an interesting situation I'm in, being both Canadian and a bureau member," he said Monday in a telephone interview. "But as a bureau member, I must uphold my responsibility to FINA."

And optimism is running low that the championships, said to be the city's biggest sports event since the 1976 Olympics, can be rescued.

FINA gave the Montreal organizing committee until Tuesday to provide assurances it will be able to meet the $36.5-million budget set when the event was awarded during the 2001 world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

While governments have chipped in, organizers have had little success in attracting sponsorships and ticket buyers. The Aquatic Federation of Canada put the financial shortfall at $12.2 million.

The organizing committee was slated to meet on Monday. Members could not immediately be reached for comment.

Godfrey said he had "no idea" whether FINA would pull the plug on the championships.

"Obviously, that would be a difficult thing for me to subscribe to. I'll do anything I can for Canada, but it's important for people to understand that arrangements were made and conditions were agreed to in 2001."

He said it would be a huge blow to the reputation of Canada and Montreal in the international sporting world if it was unable to deliver after outbidding Long Beach, Calif., for the championships.

The event, which includes swimming, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming and endurance swimming, is considered by many the third most important world championships after soccer and track and field.

It is expected to attract about 2,000 athletes, coaches and officials, plus thousands of spectators and media. The Conseil du Patronat, Quebec's largest employers group, has estimated about $80 million in economic spinoffs for the city.

Organizers planned on attracting $12 million in sponsor revenue. Reports have said they have less than $200,000 in hand.

After a meeting last week in Montreal between the committee and top FINA officials, Larfaoui said he was encouraged by a $4-million commitment from the Conseil du Patronat.

But a spokesman for the employers group said they had only recommended to the Quebec government that it turn over that amount from interest on a tax on business for youth activities.

On Saturday, the Aquatic Federation announced it would forego the $500,000 it was to have received from the championships in order to help organizers meet their budget.

That is foregoing what would have been an extremely important legacy for aquatics in Canada from an event that in most cases comes along once in a federation's lifetime," said Godfrey.

Long Beach is often cited as a possible replacement host, but officials there recently said they would not have enough hotel rooms available in July.

The California city is also reportedly still stuck with a $1-million US debt from playing host to the U.S. Olympic swimming trails last year.

Quebec sports minister Jean-Marc Fournier last week called on FINA to contribute $3.6 million to save its own championships. Godfrey disagreed.

"FINA has the business of world swimming to run and it earns some of its revenues from these championships," he said. "As a businessman, I would expect a contract to be upheld.

"But I'm talking as a businessman. What decision FINA makes is another matter."

put on line by SVP