An upstart mixed-martial arts association headed by a Singaporean rich-lister has lavished incredibly priced alcohol, including an $82,000 bottle of cognac, on Brisbane’s key Olympic decision-making body.
The gifts are so exorbitant the Brisbane Organising Committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games has not kept them, even handing into Customs another two bottles of wine worth $20,000 rather than pay the import duties.
The largesse, revealed exclusively by the ABC today, is part of a wider series of examples of attempted influence-peddling and relationship-building from businesses and sporting bodies before the Games kick off in 2032.
The ABC used right to information laws to obtain the hospitality register for the Brisbane committee, whose responsibilities include managing operations of Games venues and proposing additional sports to the International Olympic Committee.
Procurement contracts with the Brisbane committee alone are worth $2.5 billion.
“Brisbane 2032 is open for business,” Brisbane committee president Andrew Liveris told an industry luncheon last year.
Brisbane committee president Andrew Liveris. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)
The hospitality register shows IT-live entertainment organisation PMY Group spent $2,300 on a Brisbane committee employee as part of a “PMY client conference” — including passes to the Richmond vs Carlton AFL game and a warm-up Australian Grand Prix event.
Catering outfit Compass Group spent $2,200 for a Brisbane committee official to attend the Australian Open “Levy Experience”. Levy is Compass’s subsidiary, which provided food and beverage to the tennis tournament.
The committee’s gift register said the recipient employee gained “insights into major event operations and hospitality practices that can inform planning for the Games”.
Law firms and travel agencies also appear on the hospitality list.
Olympics a platform for growth
Bond University sports governance expert Lisa Gowthorp said the Games could be a powerful platform for business growth.
“Once you are signed up as a supplier, as a sponsor, you then get invited to networking, hospitality, trade shows, you can be in a room with local and federal government, international business, and you can really make a name for yourself,” she told the ABC.
Lisa Gowthorp said the Games could be a platform for sport growth. (Supplied: Bond University)
“It is global, it has great values, and you’re going to be seen around the world.”
The corporate hospitality is legal and a common tactic for business development, generating valuable face-time for companies to show their wares and bind relationships.
Some sports take a similar approach.
The Olympics are an incredibly high-profile stage; the IOC estimates people viewed almost 28.7 billion hours of Paris Games footage in 2024.
But sports can be dropped, like breakdancing after the Paris Games, or win Olympic status.
Bond University’s Dr Gowthorp said the local committee’s power to make recommendations meant some sports without Olympic berths would want to build relationships, “to get your voice across, trying to demonstrate your sport is global, your sport has great significant cultural value for Australia”.
She added an Olympics spot went beyond the actual Games days, potentially attracting long-term government funding, broadcasters and participation for sports. “It’s about your longevity,” she said.
Cricket is appearing at Los Angeles in 2028, but its 2032 fate is yet to be sealed. The hospitality register shows Cricket Australia has provided a dozen Ashes tickets worth between $500 and $1,000 each to committee officials.
Cricket Australia has gifted Ashes tickets to committee officials. (Reuters: Hollie Adams)
Tennis Australia also was listed as giving with nine gifts, including a $1,500 “tennis and hospitality experience at the Australian Open”.
The US NFL too wooed the Brisbane committee — its touch gridiron “flag football” is at Los Angeles Olympics — while Australian rugby league outfits, including the NRL, have provided hospitality.
Some sports and business on the register did not comment on specific hospitality.
But Cricket Australia said local fixtures allowed it to show the game’s impact to stakeholders, Tennis Australia was “keen to share our expertise and offer our support”, while Netball Australia — which only gave a $530 invitation to a final match and lunch — said it would “promote our strong value proposition and what we can contribute to the Games’ overall success”.
Gift giving for different goals
Just being on the gift-giving register does not necessarily mean a sport wants a Games berth.
Industry sources told the ABC the Brisbane committee is also important as it might have influence elsewhere, such as with sports-infrastructure decision makers, or it can be valuable for keeping a sport mentioned in high-level discussions.
Still, the Australian outfits’ hospitality is peanuts compared to the Federation of International Mixed Martial Arts (FIMMA).
Federation of International Mixed Martial Arts (FIMMA) oversees a non-cage version of the fights. (Supplied: AMMA)
In an international meeting this February FIMMA splurged two bottles of wine, later valued at $20,000, on the Brisbane committee.
“Value of items was not known at time of receipt,” the committee register notes. “Items were relinquished to Customs due to significant importation charges.”
In March, the martial arts mob lavished two more gifts: an $82,270.75 Remy Martin Louis XIII Rare Cask 42.1 Cognac and a $2,600 Remy Martin Louis XIII Grande Champagne Cognac in Baccarat crystal decanter.
“Unsolicited and value at time of gifting unknown. Management to consider treatment of gift given value,” the register said. A source with knowledge the gifts said they were returned to the martial arts federation.
A bottle of the Remy Martin Louis XIII Rare Cask 42.1 Cognac sells for more than $82,000.
The cognac’s maker says each barrel provides just over 775 decanters, and the associated bottle was inspired “by a flask unearthed on the battlefield of Jarnac in 1569”.
Swiss-registered FIMMA wants MMA in the Olympics and formed last December. It rivals organisations such as the UFC-aligned International Mixed Martial Arts Federation.
FIMMA’s president is property developer Gordon Tang, valued by Forbes as worth more than $1.1 billion in Singapore’s 50 richest people in 2023, and whose profile said he was a keen windsurfer in his youth and has been on Cambodia’s Olympic Committee.
FIIMA told the ABC: “The presentation of commemorative gifts to host organisations and strategic stakeholders during official meetings is a gesture of courtesy and respect.”
“The gifts referred to were presented to the Brisbane [committee] and were offered openly and transparently, consistent with widely accepted international practice.”
Billionaire property developer Gordon Tang is the president of FIMMA. (Supplied)
‘Schmoozing’ not uncommon
Governance scandals have previously hit different Olympics, such as questions about Salt Lake City’s 2002 Winter Games win and claims the children of IOC members were given scholarship assistance.
Dr Gowthorp said “the schmoozing, the networking, very expensive gifts” had been a part of international sports work, but governance reforms had taken place within the Olympics. The IOC itself has a code of ethics that says “a sense of measure must be respected” in any hospitality provided to Olympic-linked personnel.
Dr Gowthorp said the Brisbane committee’s gift register was an example of governance structures being established to ensure processes were transparent and rigorous.
The Brisbane committee told the ABC it was setting the “highest integrity standards” and external audits regularly occurred.
“We are delivering one of the biggest events in the world and that will naturally attract interest, attention and invitation. Equally, we are steadfast in our approach to ensuring fair and proper processes when it comes to engagement, contracting and attendance,” the committee said.
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