According to the new sports minister, Hugh Robertson MP (who shadowed this area for 5 years when in opposition) we will have to wait two more years before we change UK sport. Um, what is wrong with doing that now? We're surely not in hock to the London Olympics are we?
We have several sports bodies:
** UK Sport
** England Institute of Sport
** Four national sports ministers
** Sport England and three other national bodies (Post 16)
** Youth Sports Trust (5-16)
Underneath them we have:
** CCPR
And then a strange beast which comes out to play every two years called
** British Olympic Association
In the next decade we have the following world sports events notwithstanding that we have The Open in Golf, F1, Henley Rowing Regatta, the Grand National, the Derby and Wimbledon every year:
** 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup (starts later this week)
** 2011 World Badminton
** 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics
** 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games
** 2015 Rugby World Cup (England)
We're still bidding for 2018 FIFA World Cup.............
This is a pretty impressive list of world sporting events but our sports bodies are still largely non-league except UK Sport.
It is odd that Mr Robertson wants to wait two years to enforce the changes he thinks are necessary for sport. Into this void will now come endless rounds of meetings and lobbying from all the sports bodies listed above. The British Olympic Association has opened the onslaught insisting it should have a seat at the top table. This needs to be resisted.
However, the Tories control sport in a way which hasn't ever been controlled before:
London 2012 Lord Coe (Tory)
BOA Lord Moynihan (Tory)
Minister for Sport (Tory)
London Mayor (Tory)
This is not good for sport per se and there's need to be a more equitable mix of politicians across our sporting bodies.
For over a decade I have argued for a Sports Think Tank and that remains my position and soon I hope to do something about that too!!