BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) is in regular contact with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), with the receipt of its Olympic Games contribution under discussion, FIBA told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"FIBA is in regular contact with the IOC and we are in discussions with them on all matters related to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games. The question of payment in relation to the IOC contribution is currently being discussed," FIBA said.

Several international federations including World Athletics were reportedly considering requesting an early payment of sums they expected to receive from the IOC from the Tokyo Games, after its postponement until 2021 created cashflow challenges.

Having received 24.34 million U.S. dollars from the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, FIBA acknowledged that while the Olympic revenue share was a significant amount, it has other important sources of revenue and reserves available.

"At present, FIBA is financially stable and does have reserves to call on, depending on the timeframe of this pandemic," the organization said.

FIBA added that it has put "a very small group of employees on partial unemployment" since the beginning of April, namely those who work in functions directly affected by the suspension of FIBA competitions. The vast majority of its employees have been working remotely since the start of the crisis.

According to FIBA, it has established a special Medical Advisory Group (MAG) to review the latest scientific knowledge regarding COVID-19, and to advise on the return of international basketball competitions.

The organization added that it would soon make an announcement regarding the staging of e-sports events.  ■