British Cycling funding could be withdrawn due to governance issues

Earlier this week, British Cycling had its funding cut by 14 per cent ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Telegraph reports that the remaining £25.98million will be “heavily conditioned” on British Cycling demonstrating an appropriate culture for elite sport.

Last month UK Sport, which allocates funding to Olympic sports, unveiled A Code for Sports Governance which sets out the “gold standard” requirements that the country’s sports governing bodies need to meet to receive public funding.

The organisation also said it was considering setting up a permanent investigations unit to deal with future allegations against governing bodies.

“There are governance issues that have been well reported,” said Rod Carr, the chairman of UK Sport.

Referring to the ongoing enquiry into the culture within British Cycling’s elite programmes, he added:

“If the outcomes are such that we, as the government investment agency, need to take some action then we will do. Governance is a real important issue – whether it’s been Fifa or the IAAF, it undermines everything.

“The issues for us are around culture, behaviour at the trackside and so on. It’s tough and I’m hoping that there are no issues to be revealed, but if there are then we’ll confront it.”

Reacting to the recent funding announcement, British Cycling chief executive Ian Drake said:

“We are pleased that UK Sport is backing British Cycling with significant investment for the next Olympic and Paralympic cycle. I’d like to thank UK Sport and the National Lottery for their continued support and we are confident we can deliver on that.

“Topping the cycling medal tables at the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games remains our goal and we began implementing our Tokyo plans two years ago.

“The sustainability of the Great Britain Cycling Team and, more widely, British Cycling has long been a key priority for us and we are becoming less reliant on public money thanks to the support of our commercial partners.

“Further to our plans to become more sustainable, British Cycling’s ‘Rider Route’ talent pathways have been realigned to reflect our Tokyo 2020 ambitions and graduates of the pathways have already won medals at elite world level this year.”