LOS ANGELES, California: A trio of world and Olympic champion swimmers has sued swimming’s world governing body FINA in a US court in San Francisco over its crackdown on non-FINA approved events.
Hungarian Katinka Hosszu and Americans Tom Shields and Michael Andrews filed the class-action anti-trust lawsuit on Friday after Swiss-based FINA effectively shut down an independent meeting in Italy, threatening to ban elite swimmers who took part from Olympic competition.
The meeting, scheduled for late December in Turin, Italy, was coordinated by organisers of a proposed International Swimming League that would operate outside FINA’s control and pay higher prize money.
Shields, an Olympic gold medalist, said he joined the lawsuit because he had dreamed for years of seeing swimming expand to include a professional league.“We are closer now than ever before to making that dream come true,” Shields said. “But that dream is being blocked by FINA.”
Attorneys for the plaintiffs say the swimmers “believe a professional league that will compensate its best athletes and better reward them for a lifetime’s worth of hard training and sacrifice is long overdue.”The lawyers said that the International Swimming League had filed a separate lawsuit against FINA for its alleged “anti-competitive conduct.”
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan selectors are inching closer to finalising squads for upcoming international assignments, with the...
PFF President Mohsen Gilani and FIFA women’s football officials pose for a picture in Miami on June 22, 2025. —...
International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry receives the ceremonial key from outgoing IOC President...
Pakistani Olympic players posing for photo. —Radio Pakistan/File ISLAMABAD: Pakistan marked World Olympic Day 2025...
Shaheen Afridi celebrates after taking a wicket in T20 World Cup 2024. — ICC/FileLAHORE: Lahore Qalandars have...
A representational image showing hockey players engaged in on-field practice. — AFP/FileISLAMABAD: A glimmer of hope...