Robertson In 2012 Funding Pledge
The Sport and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson has pledged to ensure that all British athletes will have the necessary funding to compete at the London 2012 Games in two years’ time.
The new coalition government has been looking at ways to cut spending and there are fears that athletes could not receive the necessary funds to complete their preparations to be competitive at the Games.
However, Robertson said: ‘I am determined to make sure we give our athletes the best possible chance.
If one thing is left standing in the comprehensive spending review it will be elite athlete funding for 2012.’
??UK Sport director Peter Keen has warned that cuts in budget could have an impact on performances as the exchequer funding was ‘50% of the total budget that we now pass on to sports.’??
There are suggestions that the £80m currently received by UK Sport to fund Olympic athletes could be cut by half.
Robertson said: ‘We know what the final settlement figure is, I will make calculations over how much lottery funding we add to that, how much private funding, and ensure our athletes have the very best possible chance of competing at London 2012.’
??Robertson also announced that UK Sport and Sport England would be merged after London 2012 as part of the spending cut.
