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| The British Olympic Assocation is facing a fund crisis. |
It's beginning to feel a bit like the 1970s again in England. In a decade lost to high inflation, an oil crisis (then called the energy crisis), and Olympics that spent all of their money on VIPs rather than athletes. I fear this is happening again.
The British Olympic Association (BOA) admitted there was not enough money to support the GB team at the London Games. BOA members were told of the shortfall at an emergency meeting last week. The association will help about 550 athletes and 1,400 support staff during the Olympics next summer. It will provide training advice, medical assistance and a holding camp. Andy Hunt, the BOA’s chief executive, said: ‘We’ve still got a gap to close. I’m absolutely certain we’ll have a full team at the Games and the money will not affect that. The level to which we can support the team is where the challenge comes.’ Mr Hunt would not reveal how much funding was needed but the shortfall is thought to run into millions of pounds.
The cost of BOA’s responsibilities, which include the Team GB camp in Loughborough, Leicestershire, is expected to be more than £5million (approximately US$8 million). The BOA gets it funding from commercial sponsorship and fundraising and receives no government cash. It gave the commercial rights to the Olympic rings to the London Organising Committee for about £30million. Mr Hunt, not part of the BOA at that time, has insisted the rights were worth more. Sounds like a fight is brewing. ‘The work we need to do, to make sure we meet the aspirations of the British people, is an immense task,’ he recently told the BBC. ‘The judgment about the success of the Games... will be about the ability to win medals and create those amazing moments that inspire the next generation of heroes.’
We at Spyns London 2012 tickets, hotels and tours (shamless plug) hope the Brits can cobble together enough cash to field a full team. Perhaps if British soldiers pulled out of Afghanistan (an unwinnable war), the savings could be applied to funding athletes.
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.
