In 2021, major sports leaders raised questions on the future of sport in the UK. They had plenty of reasons to back their argument. On that subject, Robert Morini, the head of Governance and International Relations in the UK Sport, shared a valuable note. He said, “Sports bodies faced some particularly serious challenges even before Covid hit and even more so now.” First, they blamed the lack of spectators in the games of the UK to give birth to such challenges. Even the picture didn’t change after British athletes’ phenomenal performances at the Tokyo Olympics. In the meantime, a few blamed the COVID for creating a dampener in attendance. But in reality, several reports marked a different truth. 

The reports indicated that the issue had always existed. Well, this time it came as a double whammy. While disrupting the enthusiasm for sports in the UK, it also made the sporting bodies stand in front of the financial threats coming from the lack of revenues. Because of the lack of public funding, the situation went further south. Meanwhile, the chair of GB Wheelchair Rugby, Ed Warner, narrated another complicated state. 

In his interaction with The Guardian, Warner complained about the lack of government support in the preparations for contests like the Olympics and the Paralympics. He claimed the allotted funds to be too little to support the athletes in the four-year cycle. Result? Per him, many athletes left the sport facing the crunches. Three years later, the problems haven’t experienced many changes. Rather, this time, a chunk of athletes are claiming to leave sports before the LA Olympics. 

In a recent report of Sky Sports, shocking news has come out of the shell. The report says, “Sixty-four percent of 189 athletes surveyed by the British Elite Athlete Association (BEAA) said they would end their careers if their funding did not change for the next cycle, with a further 21 percent saying they would be unsure about continuing if it stayed the same.” A frightening picture when the world of sports is going through seismic changes, isn’t it? But there are a lot more things to scare sports enthusiasts. 

In its survey, BEAA has reached only one among the six funded British athletes—a rough measurement! But if the organization could have reached all the athletes on the list, then the number of disappointed ones would have been huge. As per the estimation, it could touch 750. That indicates that more than 700 British athletes may give up their sports before the LA Olympics, facing financial crunches. Surprisingly, the frightening numbers have not come out of the blue. They have a few backings, as Hollie Pearne-Webb says. 

The Olympic hockey champion reflected on the issue, shedding light on the sad show of funding. According to her, many funded athletes found it hard to make it to the Paris Olympics. So if the problem persists, they may give up. In fact, she says that the crumbling situation may hurt the next generations who yearn to join the big leagues. So, in such a situation, she, along with a few others, has penned a letter to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. But she does not have much hope to witness relief soon. “Now we are concerned that, with the sporting system under immense financial pressure, they will be asked to do so until at least 2028. Such a demand will have devastating consequences,” she made her point. But is there no hope for real? 

The times around the Olympics see a lot of formation and disruption 

At present, the BEAA estimates show the yearly earnings of a British athlete around $29,084—too little to live on! Additionally, a chunk of athletes have seen many changes in their earnings since the 2012 London Olympics. Yet, a lot of things could have happened. One such agent to bring about the change was announced in 2020. 

Before the Tokyo Olympics, UK Sport promised to open its fund for the athletes. In an announcement, the authorities promised to invest £345m ($445m) for the Tokyo Games. The amount was listed to be split across 43 Olympic and Paralympic sports. Yet Ed Warner cried about the lack of funding for wheelchair rugby. But as per UK Sports’ announcement, the sport was set to get £2,650,289 ($3,424,650) for the Olympics. So what happened in reality? However, this time as well, the Government is set to announce the financial plan for the LA Olympics after the Autumn Budget. But before that, an assurance has come. 

On the funding subject, a Government spokesperson has admitted to knowing about the ongoing situation. With that, he/she has mentioned that the Government is bound to end the crisis. The concluding statement has come as “We will set out further details at the Spending Review.” A lot of attention will be focused on the issue right now.