Leading sporting bodies have ramped up pressure on the ABC to reverse its "absurd" decision to scrap live radio coverage of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The ABC argues it can't afford afford the $1 million needed to send a team and broadcasting system to Japan, with the shock decision ending almost seven decades of covering the event live.
The Australian Sports Commission has joined the fight with chairman John Wylie calling the decision "absurd" in a letter to ABC chairwoman Ita Buttrose.
Ms Buttrose has agreed to sit down with Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates and chief executive Matt Carroll in the next fortnight.
Mr Wylie said Sport Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport were contributing $500 million of public money to the Olympics.
"We would very much like and expect the ABC will reconsider this, change their mind and do the right thing by Australia," he told AAP on Monday.
He said the $1 million investment represented about 0.1 per cent of the ABC's annual budget.
"We know that all public organisations are under funding pressure but this is a very small investment by the ABC," Mr Wylie said.
"This is something that is more important than signalling about budget pressures."
The Sport Australia chairman said Australia was a proud sporting nation, with coverage important for people in rural and regional Australia, as well as those on the road and at work during the Games.
"You think of names like Dawn Fraser, Cathy Freeman, Kieran Perkins, Ian Thorpe and the way their stories are really Australia's stories," Mr Wylie said.
"It's really important the Olympics are broadcast to all Australians."
Sport Australia isn't expected to join the AOC's meeting with the ABC.
"Our views are clear and on the record," Mr Wylie said.
The AOC has called the decision "monumentally short-sighted" and wants to explore all avenues to find money to broadcast the event.
"The ABC has consistently said it is open to discuss the decision not to bid for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. We are more than happy to meet with the AOC in the coming weeks to discuss further," an ABC spokesperson told AAP on Monday.
An indexation freeze on the ABC in the 2018 budget led to $83.8 million in cuts, while 600 jobs have been lost at the broadcaster in the past five years.
Australian Associated Press
