Olympic medal drought looms if government cash flows only to chosen sports
Jacquelin Magnay
October 17, 2007
A HOST of sports could have their Federal Government funding withdrawn if the Australian Sports Commission follows through with plans to halve the number of sports it supports.
And Australia's traditionally healthy Olympics medal tally will be under threat by the London 2012 Games, with a slight downturn expected in Beijing next year. In a radical re-think of funding for elite sports - and with the federal election looming - ASC chief executive Mark Peters says the commission may be better placed to concentrate its funding on fewer sports, rather than continue to spread itself too thinly under its current blanket strategy.
It is understood the commission is considering reducing support from 68 sports to fewer than 25. At the moment, the ASC receives about $250 million to help elite sport, but says much more is needed if the widespread support is to continue.
In the firing line are minor sports such as badminton, fencing, modern pentathlon, weightlifting, wrestling and handball. But other Olympic medal-producing disciplines such as triathlon, beach volleyball, hockey, gymnastics and basketball are also under threat.
Already, the respected Australian Institute of Sport football program is in limbo, with the team unable to afford to compete in Victoria. Football Federation Australia is to discuss the crisis at a meeting today.
Other AIS programs are "under review" and many sports bosses fear the worst.
Neither the Howard Government nor the Opposition has announced its election sports strategy, but Peters has made some timely and highly provocative comments.
"Unless there is a major investment of funds for sport, we have no alternative but to go the way of specialising in sports and events," he told Inside Sport.
"That may appear very un-Australian, but it is just the reality of our situation. If we continue at the same investment level, we can either support a whole lot of sports and be mediocre or we can invest in a smaller number of sports and continue to be successful on the international stage."
The office of the Minister for Sport, Senator George Brandis, did not return phone calls last night. Labor's sports spokesperson, Senator Kate Lundy, said a Rudd government was committed to maintaining current budgets to the ASC.
"We won'
t be cutting anything," she said. "We are committed to current budgets and all of the current programs."
Lundy said the public comments of Peters seemed to contradict previous statements from the commission and the Government that funding levels for sport had never been higher. Despite a recent string of multimillion-dollar funding announcements for football stadiums, a hall of fame, rugby academy and illicit doping policy, neither political party has put forward a future strategy for elite sport. Peters said Australia's rivals were pouring funds into sport, while smaller European nations as well as African and Asian countries were targeting specific events.
Funding for sport has been stagnating since before the Sydney Olympics. The medal tally has started to reflect that: 49 at the 2004 Athens Games, compared to 58 in Sydney. Predictions for Beijing fall around the 42-medal mark.
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/10/16/1192300768427.html
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