UK Sport responds to claims over flawed funding

UK Sport has responded to reports in the Daily Telegraph -– which dubbed the planned new funding scheme for British sport as “the most hare-brained yet” – by saying the funding model is still in its preliminary stage and that the figures presented by the newspaper bare “no resemblance” to actual figures.

According to the new scheme, each sport would be judged based on its performance at the Athens Olympics this summer – dramatically cutting funding for sports which did not perform at the games.

According to the newspaper, every athlete who received a medal at Athens would be awarded three points towards a total score for their sport – regardless of how many medals they won – with one point given to those finishing between fourth and eight place.

This, says the Telegraph, would lead to a situation where Kelly Holmes’ double-winning effort would only earn athletics three points, while a bronze for the hockey team would have resulted in 33 points.

Sports such as judo, gymnastics and triathlon – which suffered a dip in form at Athens – would be among the worst hit and could experience funding cuts of around 90 per cent.

In a response to the newspaper’s claims, however, UK Sport insisted that the model “was a discussion document” used to illustrate different proposed methods for future funding.