UK Sport, the agency that distributes lottery and government money to around 1,400 individual athletes and their sports, came up with the Team 2012 package - that offers sponsors the right to use Olympic athletes in advertising campaigns – to cover funding gaps for the training of elite UK athletes.
“For the sake of the 2012 Olympic squad, the solidarity that was evident in Beijing should now be shown to our elite athletes for 2012 and Rob Woodhouse and others should rethink their position,” said Caborn, minister when the deal was agreed between the government and UK Sport in 2006.
Adlington's agent Woodhouse has refused to let his client sign up to the Team 2012 agreement for fear it will reduce her own sponsorship revenues. Adlington is one of a number of UK gold medal-winners from the 2008 Beijing Olympics – including Christine Ohuruogu, Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins – who have not signed the Team 2012 contract.
Concern centres on a clause which states athletes should not agree to any new arrangement which “derogates from and/or conflicts with the Team 2012 agreement”, which has been taken to mean possibly preventing athletes agreeing deals with companies who are rivals to Team 2012 sponsors.
