296 lines
9.5 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
296 lines
9.5 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
sport
|
|
othersports
|
|
olympics
|
|
london2012
|
|
3543634
|
|
-----
|
|
# Government to help fill London 2012 funding gap at expense of emerging
|
|
sports
|
|
|
|
## Olympic sports facing budget cuts ahead of the 2012 Olympics were
|
|
reprieved on Tuesday after eleventh-hour negotiations between the Treasury and
|
|
the Department for Culture, Media and Sport concluded with a £29 million
|
|
injection of Exchequer funds to the UK Sport budget.
|
|
|
|
![Andy Burnham - Government to help fill London 2012 funding gap at expense of
|
|
emerging sports][1]
|
|
|
|
Late reprieve: Culture secretary Andy Burnham called the 29 million injection
|
|
of Government funds into the 2012 Olympics 'a good outcome in the
|
|
circumstances' Photo: DAVID ROSE
|
|
|
|
By Paul Kelso 10:28PM GMT 02 Dec 2008
|
|
|
|
[Comments][2]
|
|
|
|
The provision of additional public money, first revealed by _The Daily
|
|
Telegraph_ on Monday, is intended to help fill a £100 million shortfall in
|
|
contributions from the private sector and means that all Olympic sports will
|
|
receive some funding in the build-up to the London Games.
|
|
|
|
Culture secretary Andy Burnham informed the UK Sport board of the funding
|
|
decision on Tuesday after negotiations with the Treasury concluded late on
|
|
Monday evening. Individual sports will be informed of their allocations on
|
|
Wednesday.
|
|
|
|
The new package means that all sports considered to have medal potential will
|
|
receive their full allocation, but emerging sports such as volleyball and
|
|
handball are likely to have to get by on skeleton funding.
|
|
|
|
The settlement means that British athletes will receive £40 million more than
|
|
during the Beijing Olympic cycle, an unprecedented investment. However, it
|
|
falls £50 million short of the £600 million promised in 2006 by the then
|
|
Chancellor, Gordon Brown, and the uncertainty caused by years of wrangling
|
|
over the issue has left many governing bodies deeply frustrated at the
|
|
Government's approach.
|
|
|
|
Uncertainty over funding stemmed from Brown's insistence in 2006 that £100
|
|
million of the £600 million, six-year package should come from the private
|
|
sector, a forecast that looked hopelessly optimistic almost as soon as it left
|
|
his mouth at the Dispatch Box.
|
|
|
|
## Related Articles
|
|
|
|
* [UK Sport dealt £50m funding blow][3]
|
|
|
|
02 Dec 2008
|
|
|
|
* [Government ponders £20m bail-out for athletes][4]
|
|
|
|
02 Dec 2008
|
|
|
|
* [Cuts could hit 2012 medal haul][5]
|
|
|
|
30 Nov 2008
|
|
|
|
In the 30 months since then, not a single penny has been raised and until
|
|
Tuesday the only dent in the £100 million shortfall had come courtesy of a
|
|
projected increase in Lottery sales worth £21 million. Tuesday's announcement
|
|
means the funding gap has been halved, but serious doubts remain as to whether
|
|
private sector contributions will close it any further.
|
|
|
|
Burnham insisted that the public funding package was a good result for Olympic
|
|
sport, and said he was confident the private sector would contribute. "This is
|
|
a good outcome in the circumstances and I think it is a realistic package, but
|
|
at the same time we are saying to British sport that we have to pull together
|
|
to bring in additional sources of funding," he told _The Daily Telegraph_.
|
|
|
|
"This means that no sports will be dropped from the Olympic programme and that
|
|
they can be maintained until the private funding arrives, which it will. One
|
|
of the things we want to see as a legacy of the London Games is the emergence
|
|
of a third funding stream for Olympic sport alongside Lottery funding and the
|
|
Exchequer. Public money has built a lot of value into sports like cycling and
|
|
rowing which now attract sponsors, and we want to repeat it across the other
|
|
sports that are not at that level."
|
|
|
|
Securing additional Exchequer funding in the current financial climate is a
|
|
notable achievement for Burnham, who inherited the thankless task of
|
|
delivering on a funding formula that has appeared deeply flawed from the
|
|
outset. The fact remains, however, that the Government has failed, so far, to
|
|
deliver on a clear commitment to Olympic sport. While the Government has long
|
|
insisted that the funding package was conditional on the private sector
|
|
contribution, UK Sport had been unequivocally told to budget for the full £600
|
|
million.
|
|
|
|
The expectation of £600 million was also backed up by official documents,
|
|
including a DCMS pamphlet called _Our Promise For 2012_, published in June
|
|
2007. On page seven, in bold and underlined, it lists "Investing £600 million
|
|
in high performance sport" as one of their plans. In July this year, sports
|
|
minister Gerry Sutcliffe told a press conference to unveil Beijing medal
|
|
targets that the Government was "committed to £600 million".
|
|
|
|
For £600 million read £550 million, and delivering on the promise to make up
|
|
the shortfall from the private sector will be a significant challenge. The
|
|
problem is that the DCMS have nothing of significant value to sell to
|
|
potential sponsors. The only Olympic property of any tangible worth to
|
|
sponsors is the five rings and the right to use the word "Olympic", and as the
|
|
IOC's regulations make explicit, the Government has no call on them.
|
|
|
|
According to the host city contract signed by London in 2005, all rights to
|
|
the Olympic rings, the flag, motto, emblem and anthem and expressions such as
|
|
Olympic, Olympiad, Olympic Games and their abbreviations, reside with the
|
|
London organising committee (Locog).
|
|
|
|
Given that Locog were and remain busy exploiting those rights to raise private
|
|
finance to pay for the running of the Games - they have so far banked £450
|
|
million - there was never any chance of the Government borrowing a ring or two
|
|
to help make up the shortfall.
|
|
|
|
This fundamental misreading of the sponsorship opportunities around the Games
|
|
has hobbled the private funding plan from the outset. With nothing "Olympic"
|
|
to sell, the DCMS have been forced to try to construct an alternative based
|
|
around athlete appearances. The resulting programme, 'Medal Hopes', will offer
|
|
sponsors locally and nationally the chance to be associated with 2012
|
|
hopefuls, but many are sceptical. "It hasn't got a hope in hell of pulling in
|
|
major funding," said a source.
|
|
|
|
Fast Track, the marketing agency run by former Olympic medallist Alan Pascoe,
|
|
were retained in July to market the scheme, but five months on the DCMS are
|
|
yet to sign off the details of the programme and it is yet to be tested in the
|
|
market.
|
|
|
|
Fast Track's ability to sell 'Medal Hopes' to a sceptical market may also be
|
|
undermined by the failure to secure additional athlete time for personal
|
|
appearances. Under the current UK Sport athlete contracts, athletes are
|
|
obliged to give up three days a year, ostensibly for Camelot to promote the
|
|
Lottery. UK Sport were seeking to increase that to four, but _The Daily
|
|
Telegraph_ understands that contracts will remain at three days.
|
|
|
|
On Tuesday the Government promised these difficulties would be overcome, and
|
|
that sport could plan with certainty for 2012. The onus is now on them to
|
|
deliver results.
|
|
|
|
**In numbers**
|
|
|
|
Total Olympic and Paralympic funding for 2008 and 2012 Olympic cycles: £619m
|
|
|
|
Beijing funding: £265m
|
|
|
|
Confirmed London funding: £304m
|
|
|
|
Full London funding: £354m
|
|
|
|
Shortfall: £50m
|
|
|
|
[X][6] Share & bookmark
|
|
|
|
Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
|
|
|
|
Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
|
|
|
|
[What are these?][7]
|
|
|
|
* Share: [Share][6] [ ][8] [ ][9]
|
|
|
|
[Tweet][10]
|
|
|
|
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/london2012/3543634
|
|
/Government-to-plug-London-2012-funding-gap-at-expense-of-emerging-sports-
|
|
Olympics.html
|
|
|
|
Telegraph
|
|
|
|
## [London 2012][11]
|
|
|
|
* ### [Sport »][12]
|
|
|
|
* ### [Olympics »][13]
|
|
|
|
* ### [Paul Kelso »][14]
|
|
|
|
IN SPORT
|
|
|
|
[![Sir Steve Redgrave][15]][16]
|
|
|
|
### [Olympics email: sign up][16]
|
|
|
|
[![Olympic Stadium - London 2012 Olympics competition schedule][17]][18]
|
|
|
|
### [London 2012 interactive schedule][18]
|
|
|
|
[![Sir Chris Hoy - London 2012 Olympics tickets guide][19]][20]
|
|
|
|
### [London 2012 tickets Q&A][20]
|
|
|
|
External Links
|
|
|
|
* ### [Department for Culture, Media and Sport][21]
|
|
|
|
[X][6] Share & bookmark
|
|
|
|
Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
|
|
|
|
Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
|
|
|
|
[What are these?][7]
|
|
|
|
Share:
|
|
|
|
* [ ][6]
|
|
|
|
* [ ][8]
|
|
|
|
* [ ][9]
|
|
|
|
* [Tweet][10]
|
|
|
|
* OLYMPIC IMAGES
|
|
|
|
Latest images from the Olympics and the London 2012 Games.
|
|
|
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
|
![][22]
|
|
|
|
telegraphuk
|
|
|
|
Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][23] [blog
|
|
comments powered by Disqus][24]
|
|
|
|
[![London 2012 Olympics][25]][13]
|
|
|
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
|
sponsored features
|
|
|
|
Loading
|
|
|
|
Olympic features
|
|
|
|
[![London 2012 Olympics: 20 questions with Nicole Cooke][26]][27]
|
|
|
|
### [20 Questions][27]
|
|
|
|
Team GB road cyclist **Nicole Cooke **talks to Telegraph Sport
|
|
|
|
### [Olympics countdown][28]
|
|
|
|
[![][29]][28]
|
|
|
|
**426 days to go**
|
|
|
|
> Theodosius II ordered the destruction of all Greek temples in AD 426. <p>
|
|
|
|
### [Send us your view on the Olympics][30]
|
|
|
|
[LONDON 2012 Sport Guides »][31]
|
|
|
|
### [Olympics sport-by-sport guide][13]
|
|
|
|
* [Archery][32] | [Athletics][33] | [Badminton][34]
|
|
|
|
* [Basketball][35] | [Boxing][36] | [Canoe Sprint][37]
|
|
|
|
* [Canoe Slalom][38] | [BMX Cycling][39] | [Mountain Bike][40]
|
|
|
|
* [Road Cycling][41] | [Track Cycling][42] | [Diving][43]
|
|
|
|
* [Equestrianism][44] | [Fencing][45] | [Football][46]
|
|
|
|
* [Rhythmic Gymnastics][47] | [Artistic][48] | [Trampoline][49]
|
|
|
|
* [Handball][50] | [Hockey][51] | [Judo][52]
|
|
|
|
* [Modern Pentathlon][53] | [Rowing][54] | [Sailing][55] | [Shooting][56]
|
|
|
|
* [Synchronised Swimming][57] | [Swimming][58]
|
|
|
|
* [Table Tennis][59] | [Taekwondo][60] | [Tennis][61]
|
|
|
|
* [Triathlon][62] | [Indoor Volleyball][63] | [Beach Volleyball][64]
|
|
|
|
* [Water Polo][65] | [Weightlifting][66] | [Wrestling][67]
|
|
|
|
Classified Advertising
|
|
|
|
* [Culture][68]
|
|
|
|
* [Cars][69]
|
|
|
|
* [Shopping][70]
|
|
|
|
Loading
|
|
|
|
var puffs_8120678 = new Array();
|
|
|