It follows a meeting of IOC Solidarity Commission held in the capital Baa Atoll Amillafushi of the Asian island nation and chaired by President of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah. 

Olympic Committee (MOC) secretary general Ahmed Marzooq claimed the decision was made to increase the amount of money they are given to help develop sport in the nation from $800,000 (£541,000/€760,000) to $1.5 million (£1 million/£1.4 million) over the next four years.

"We expect an increase of about 40 percent," Marzooq said.

It was also decided at the meeting that countries would now receive an amount based on the extent of their need as currently, assistance is given to all nations, regardless of whether they require it or not.

"After evaluating national Olympic committee programmes for the past four years, Commission decided that starting 2017 countries will be given customized assistance based on the extent of their needs," Marzooq added.

"Assistance will therefore be provided under customised programmes.

"The assistance provided to this day are general.

"Maldives gets the same amount of assistance provided to America.

"But with the new policy countries such as Maldives will be provided more assistance."

The Maldives sent a team of five athletes to London 2012 ©Getty Images

Marzooq also claimed that he feels that the Maldives have reaped the benefits from hosting the meeting and that it gave them the opportunity to get a much-needed increase in funds, which he hopes will help them send a bigger team to Rio 2016 than they did London 2012.

There they sent a team of five athletes who competed in three sports.

The best performance came in the men's 100 metres where Azneem Ahmed reached the quarter-finals, setting a national record of 10.79sec. 

Maldives are likely to receive scholarships for this year's Indian Ocean Games, scheduled to take place from August 1 to 8 on the French island of Réunion.

The Olympic Solidarity programme offers nations the chance to enhance their sporting development by providing funds for training initiatives for athletes, coaches and administrators.

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