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Budget changes threaten community sport
New government proposals suggest the nation will get fatter watching England lose at football, rather than be encouraged to take part in sport.
The news that Sport England’s budget is being refocussed has sparked fears that community sport will suffer, as more cash will be ploughed into elite sports programmes.
Although the government secured the 2012 Olympics partly on the basis that it would use the event to get two million more people into sport – and so tackle the obesity problem – comments from Culture Secretary, James Purnell, have suggested this objective might be on the ropes.
Purnell has advocated ploughing more money into governing bodies, like the Football Association and Rugby Football Union, to train potential stars, and some sports including recreational cycling, walking, yoga and the gym will no longer be classified as sport and therefore will no longer be eligible for funding.
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport press office confirmed that there would be a refocussing of Sport England’s budget, but denied that this would impact community sport and reiterated the fact that getting people active is very much on the government’s agenda.
A Sport England spokesperson said: “It’s likely there will be a more narrow definition of sport.
"This will have a significant impact on the projects we work on and the activities we fund. Once we have our settlement we will work through the implications for our strategy 2008-2011. This is a DCMS decision. We will implement it.”
IMAGE: Actionplus