Winter Olympics: Boa in New Funding Row

Colin Moynihan, the Tory Lord who is chairman of the British Olympic Association, has been accused of placing in jeopardy vital financial support to the country’s medal hopes for the 2012 Games in London because his confrontational attitude has upset the Chancellor, Gordon Brown.

It has been claimed that since he was elected to the most senior Olympic post in Britain last October he has politicized the BOA, previously a staunchly independent body that once stood up to Margaret Thatcher over boycotting the 1980 Games in Moscow at which Moynihan won a silver medal, and placed under threat £250million of funding.

Senior government sources have told Observer Sport that the continual attacks from Moynihan and Hugh Robertson, the shadow sports minister, over the issue of funding have put in doubt a planned announcement from Brown to give an extra £50m a year to Britain’s Olympic hopefuls in the Budget on 22 March. ‘The worst kind of lobbying you can do with Gordon is backing him into a corner,’ said one senior Treasury official.

It is claimed that Moynihan has already undone much of the good work of his predecessor, Sir Craig Reedie, who worked closely with the Government during London’s 2012 bid. ‘Moynihan’s been a disaster [as chairman],’ said the Treasury official. ‘Sport spent a lot of time building up good relations and he’s come along and ruined everything. The way the BOA is operating under him is totally counter-productive.’

Senior officials within the organizing committee for London 2012 have also expressed fears that if Moynihan keeps upsetting the Government it could affect their relations with them. So concerned have Treasury officials grown at Moynihan’s calls for extra funding that they have spoken to Simon Clegg, the chief executive of the BOA, in an attempt to gag him. But last night, on the eve of the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics, Moynihan renewed his calls for Brown to make an announcement on funding for 2012.

‘Having spoken to a number of our Olympic sports and their athletes, there are concerns that more valuable time should not be lost,’ he said. ‘Our future Olympians do not have time to waste; they have six years to prepare for their peak performance for a London Games in 2012. And it would be a travesty if talented athletes do not get the opportunity to aim for the medal rostrum.’

The latest comments are only likely to inflame Brown. He has already made clear to his officials that he will not make any announcement if it appears to reaction to comments from Moynihan Robertson. ‘This applying constant pressure just doesn’t work,’ said Treasury official. ‘You’d think they would have learned that by now.’

The irony is that Brown is keen to back Britain’s athletes. His officials described the presentation given to him three weeks ago by UK Sport, the main distributor of National Lottery funding, as ‘most professional he has ever seen given to him by a sports organization’.

Derek Wyatt, the Labour MP for Sittingbourne & Sheppey who is chairman of the All-Party Olympic Committee, night condemned the BOA. ‘We went into the Olympic bid with cross-party support and it’s disappointing that after less than a year it’s dividing into politics again,’ he said.

‘UK Sport has made a presentation the Treasury, which is the most sophisticated sports document they have been presented with. I think they listening. The BOA has not produced 40-page document and frankly I doubt they are capable of it. They should whinging. It’s unhelpful and spoils good sense there has been in the House for the past two-and-a-half years.’