The Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) could be forced to pay a bigger bill in order to send athletes to Tokyo, Japan, if the Olympic Games go on as planned.
A cloud of uncertainty still hovers over the summer games scheduled for July 24 to August 9 due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
And BOA president Sandra Osborne says due to a number of qualifying events being cancelled, the cost of financing the trip is likely to rise.
Last year, secretary general Cameron Burke revealed it would cost about $1 million to get the home team to the most prestigious sporting event.
“There is a potential increase. We have athletes who were going off to qualifiers, judo and boxing had their events cancelled; those are two examples. They would have paid airfare and accommodation, if they now have to go to another event, we do not know if they will get a 100 per cent refund or not.
“There is potential from the training aspect that there could be an increase in cost. If the games do go on, we do not know for sure what is going to be in place. Any situation could play out. There is the possibility. The later they (athletes) qualify, the later their flights will be booked and could be more expensive. There are so many unknowns at this time,” Osborne told SaturdaySport