Photograph by Ryan Fung
UK Sport has announced that they are cutting all Olympic funding to British Basketball after both the men’s and women’s teams failed to qualify for the World Championships.
These cuts come after the sport received a 12-month reprieve after missing targets last year.
The organisation has also cut funding to a number of other sports, which they believe have little chance of bringing the UK back a medal in Rio including water polo and synchronised swimming.
18 other Olympic and Paralympic sports have seen their funding increase as the UK looks towards the 2014 Olympics, with funding shown to be a significant indicator in medal prospects in 2012.
Liz Nicholl, Chief Executive of UK Sport, said:
This is a very significant point on our journey to Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. The high level goal of winning more Olympic and Paralympic medals at the next Summer Games is very challenging. We know that if we continue to focus our energy and resources we can deliver our commitment to Government, build on that success in London, and make this nation proud again.
I would like to thank all the sports that engaged with us so openly through this Annual Review. While there is a clear understanding now that our investment is based on merit and must be aligned behind our best medal prospects, it doesn’t make the decisions any easier and I recognise it is a difficult time for the sports and athletes who have been withdrawn from funding. To continue funding sports where the evidence is telling us they cannot win a medal by 2020 would be a high risk strategy that compromises opportunities elsewhere.
British Basketball complained of bias against emerging sports, saying in a statement:
How can a system abandon a sport where 70% of the participants are under the age of 25 and where around 50% of those that play come from BME communities?
Performance Chairman Roger Moreland added:
There is a gap in the system and that system needs to change otherwise there is no hope to realise legitimate aspiration for those sports that are not already at the table.
The system is not like a tap. To work effectively, it cannot be turned on and off and still produce players and coaches to succeed in future Olympic Games or World Championships.
A statement from the sport added: “The UK Sport funding system can clearly deliver medals, but it appears to show bias against team and emerging sports. Basketball falls into both categories.”
Moreland has argued that the growth in participation numbers of the sport, and the fact it is attracting so many young people, should have been recognised.
The statement added: “How can a system abandon a sport where 70 per cent of the participants are under the age of 25 and where around 50 per cent of those that play come from BME [black and minority ethnic]communities?”
