This was disclosed in correspondence circulated today to all SportAccord member federations and obtained by insidethegames.

The unspecified losses are thought to be less than originally expected, however.

"The SportAccord Convention earlier this year in Lausanne incurred significant losses, leading to an earlier estimation that no funds could be transferred to its stakeholders," the update explained.

"However, that first negative financial forecast has now been considerably reduced, allowing the SportAccord Convention Board led by Mr [Francesco] Ricci Bitti to reconsider its position. 

"I am pleased to inform you that it will therefore distribute 50 per cent of the budgeted income for 2016 to SportAccord."

insidethegames understands, however, that a loss had been expected beforehand due to the short time-frame organisers had to prepare for the event due to the Swiss city only being confirmed as host four months beforehand in November 2015.

Dubai was initially due to play host before withdrawing in October.

SportAccord and SportAccord Convention managing director Nis Hatt claimed that the financial results were more due to these general circumstances than factors unique to Lausanne.

He is confident that, with a full year to prepare the event, next year's Convention in Aarhus, Denmark will not operate at a loss.

A proposal to fully merge SportAccord and the SportAccord Convention has been postponed, but the two organisations appear to be operating in closer harmony.

insidethegames revealed earlier this year that SportAccord's revised budget for 2016 put expected receipts at just CHF1.86 million (£1.34 million/$1.90 million/€1.70 million), well under a quarter of total 2014 income of CHF8.25 million (£5.98 million/$8.45 million/€7.56 million).

This followed the downsizing which came after the resignation of former President Marius Vizer when he fiercely criticised the International Olympic Committee and its President Thomas Bach in April 2015.

A stream of federations temporarily withdrew in protest while planned multi-sports events organised under the SportAccord banner were postponed.

Switzerland's Patrick Baumann was elected President in April and is now hoping to steady the ship.

"Our treasurer, Ms [Marisol] Casado, has met with the finance team in SportAccord and was briefed on the current financial situation as well as on the prospects for 2017," the update added. 

"As I have indicated in my earlier correspondence, we have to remain prudent in our approach until new and steadier resources will flow into SportAccord, based on a solid assessment of its activities. 

"We are therefore also very thankful for the voluntary participation of the various personalities in the different working groups."

SportAccord’s Doping-Free Sport Unit (DFSU), which assists International Sports Federations on anti-doping matters, including testing, was expected to be responsible for CHF1.06 million (£768,000/$1.08 million/€972,000), or well over half, of these receipts.

Hatt confirmed that the DFSU is still a major contributor to the budget along with membership fees.

It is hoped that plans to revive the SportAccord-organised World Combat Games and, possibly, the World Mind Games and World Urban Games, will help generate greater revenue through sponsorship and exposure.

This appears more of a medium to long rather than a short-term objective, however.