Home
News
In Focus
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
Restaurants get off to a quick start thanks to game-changing policies
High service charges on event ticket refunds call for further regulation
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
British Olympic team hit by funding cut
Source: Xinhua |
January 30, 2009, Friday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
BRITAIN'S eight Olympic and four Paralympic sports have seen their Olympic funding slashed in the run-up to the London 2012 Games.
UK Sport announced yesterday that fencing, handball, shooting, table tennis, volleyball/beach volleyball, water polo, weightlifting and wrestling, plus Paralympic sports fencing, goalball, volleyball and wheelchair basketball (women) would now have to share 11.2 million pounds of public money.
The figure means each sport will receive around a half (or even less) of the cash they got in the build-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"The past few months have not been easy for anyone, and the decisions we have taken have been tough," said UK Sport chair Sue Campbell.
"It was vital that, having successfully targeted our medal prospects, we also maximised the chances of every sport for London2012 within our limited resources.
"While a risk, I believe that the flexible and performance orientated approach we have announced today does just that."
The sports are the casualties of a 50 million pounds funding shortfall, brought about by the failure of a government campaign to bring in a single penny from the private sector.
The move has caused dismay amongst most of the sports that have been affected and will prompt worries whether the British Olympic team will be able to fulfill hopes of fielding a squad in every sport in London.
Water polo has suffered a fifty percent cut to 1.45 million, described as "pretty bleak" by the performance director Nick Hume.
"We think the absolute cheapest you could do it on would be about 2.5 million," he said.
"That would get two decent teams to London - on a real shoestring - but anything less than that and you would be really cobbling something together."
However, UK Sport indicated that an additional 1.8 million pounds from Sports Aid's talented athlete scholarship scheme could be available to promising athletes from these 12 sports.
UK Sport announced yesterday that fencing, handball, shooting, table tennis, volleyball/beach volleyball, water polo, weightlifting and wrestling, plus Paralympic sports fencing, goalball, volleyball and wheelchair basketball (women) would now have to share 11.2 million pounds of public money.
The figure means each sport will receive around a half (or even less) of the cash they got in the build-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"The past few months have not been easy for anyone, and the decisions we have taken have been tough," said UK Sport chair Sue Campbell.
"It was vital that, having successfully targeted our medal prospects, we also maximised the chances of every sport for London2012 within our limited resources.
"While a risk, I believe that the flexible and performance orientated approach we have announced today does just that."
The sports are the casualties of a 50 million pounds funding shortfall, brought about by the failure of a government campaign to bring in a single penny from the private sector.
The move has caused dismay amongst most of the sports that have been affected and will prompt worries whether the British Olympic team will be able to fulfill hopes of fielding a squad in every sport in London.
Water polo has suffered a fifty percent cut to 1.45 million, described as "pretty bleak" by the performance director Nick Hume.
"We think the absolute cheapest you could do it on would be about 2.5 million," he said.
"That would get two decent teams to London - on a real shoestring - but anything less than that and you would be really cobbling something together."
However, UK Sport indicated that an additional 1.8 million pounds from Sports Aid's talented athlete scholarship scheme could be available to promising athletes from these 12 sports.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
