MELBOURNE • Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) president John Coates said yesterday he has taken a 20 per cent cut to his "consulting fees" due to the coronavirus crisis.

His fees were A$594,000 (S$514,000) for this year but he said he would take only A$475,600.

"I have taken this decision as a consequence of the Covid-19 health and financial crisis confronting all sectors of Australian society and from which the AOC is not immune," he said in a statement.

The 69-year-old also trimmed his fees in 2018 following a challenge to his presidency the previous year from Olympic hockey gold medallist Danni Roche.

Much of her losing campaign had focused on his pay and she had pledged to cut the AOC's administration costs and divert funds to Australian sports.

Coates, hugely influential in global sport and the chairman of the International Olympic Committee's coordination commission for the Tokyo Games, said the AOC would declare a surplus of A$5.44 million for last year in its annual report later this month.

The AOC's foundation, which prepares Australia's athletes for the Games, increased its reserves to A$171.42 million last year from A$150.88 million.

"However, indications are that the impact of the Covid-19-inspired financial crisis will see the foundation return to its Dec 31, 2018, asset base in the short term, if not already, and in receipt of significantly reduced returns as companies underperform and suspend dividends," Coates said. REUTERS