According to UK newspaper, The Guardian, MPs on the Commons public accounts committee will confirm today that Gordon Brown’s initiative to persuade companies to help Britain reach a target of fourth place in the medal table has foundered.
The report shows that fears of an imminent recession and the effect of the credit crunch on banks means that both the medals initiative and the £1 billion needed to start work on the Olympic Village are under serious threat.
Plans to award the first of five £20 million annual payments to UK Sport to cover the shortfall in funding in the financial year 2008-09 have already been put in place – but the money will be supplied by the taxpayer, not private industry.
Whitehall insiders are predicting that Tessa Jowell, the minister in charge of the Games, will be lucky to get receive any sponsorship for athletics training until nearer 2012, while they cannot see the banks releasing cash to fund the village until the economy recovers.
