New York (AFP)
The central body of American university sport, the NCAA, endorsed Tuesday the possibility for athletes to be paid in exchange for the use of their name and image, a revolution after decades of opposition.
The stakes are high, because American football and basketball universities generate billions of dollars in annual revenue in the United States, a windfall that athletes do not perceive today.
In late September, California Governor Gavin Newsom caused the first earthquake by ratifying a text authorizing the payment of university athletes in his state, starting in 2023.
On Tuesday, the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) board voted unanimously to allow student athletes to earn image rights and sign advertising contracts, according to a statement.
He immediately mandated the divisions of the organization to work on an update of their bylaws, with a deadline of January 2021.
The NCAA did not say anything about the practicalities of this compensation or any ceiling.
"As a national governing body, the NCAA has a unique position to change its rules and ensure a fair and equal system for university athletes," commented NCAA President Mark Emmert.
This is a complete break in the discourse of the governing body, which had always been officially opposed until now to the principle of the remuneration of university athletes.
Several leaders and specialists were nevertheless cautious about the real consequences of this historic opening.
"We need to make sure that the NCAA is indeed doing it," Mark Walker, a Republican elected to the House of Representatives and a leader on the subject, warned via Twitter.
"If these words are promising," he added, "they have used others in the past to deprive university athletes of their fundamental rights and fair treatment."
© 2019 AFP