UK Sport Announces Funding Reprieve
UK Sport has announced that basketball and wheelchair fencing will be awarded funding following a board meeting at which six National Governing Bodies (NGBs) appealed to the board to reconsider the decisions made in December 2012 on the investment into Olympic and Paralympic sports for the 2013-2017 investment cycle.
Following this process, the UK Sport Board has decided to award funding for the Rio cycle to Basketball and Wheelchair Fencing; and to revisit with Beach Volleyball the costs of operating a small squad programme for two athletes. It was decided that there will be no change to the awards given to the remaining sports, due to insufficient evidence of medal potential in 2016 or 2020.
The decision means that Table Tennis, Weighlifting and Wrestling will still have their funding cut despite appealing to the board. The decision is in line with the governing body’s ‘No Compromise’ approach which funds sports on a top down, meritocratic basis, as resources allow, and in pursuit of more medals in Rio and further success in 2020.
Baroness Sue Campbell, chair of the UK Sport Board, said: ‘I appreciate this has been, and continues to be, a very difficult time for those sports and athletes with no funding. I speak on behalf of UK Sport’s Board when I say that we would like to thank those who presented to us on Wednesday for their commitment to the process and clear dedication to their athletes. We want to make it clear that we do not consider any of the non-funded sports to have failed. In fact most have made significant progress within this unique period whereby they were funded exceptionally given it was a home Games.’
Liz Nicholl, chief executive of UK Sport, said: ‘UK Sport is delighted to be able to confirm that we will now be investing in two additional sports for the Rio cycle, taking the overall total to 44 sports. These sports have credible medal potential for 2016 or 2020. This is a fantastic legacy from London 2012 for the UK high performance system and demonstrates the progress UK Sport has been able to make thanks to continued support from The National Lottery and Government.’
