The move is a tacit admission that efforts to raise funding from the private sector, which were part of a five-year, £600 million funding programme agreed in 2006, are thought likely to fail. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has guaranteed the first tranche of £20 million after the Beijing Games in August.
The Treasury had insisted at the time of the 2006 agreement that 15 per cent of the money should come from commercial sponsorship. The Lottery was to provide £300 million, and government £200 million. The government maintains that private funding will still be sought. A spokesperson from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said, “The Government is completely committed to supporting our elite athletes in the run-up to London 2012 and beyond. Raising £100 million from the private sector remains the target we are focused on.”
However the DCMS is to guarantee a first tranche of £20 million, to be paid after the Beijing Games in August. This will give UK Sport the financial certainty to allocate grants in its 2009-2013 funding cycle. It will agree in principle the money for individual sports immediately after Beijing.
