26-02-2018, 21:31
Any government of any color can't win in a debate about this. In 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics, there was uproar in the UK when we failed miserably in terms of the medals we won, we only won 1 Gold through Redgrave and Pinsent. This led to a government review about such things as school sport through to the athletes that did compete and what was holding them back in terms of performance. That is what led to the lottery money being used to help sport and sportspeople be able to reach their potential, not just at the Olympic games but at other events as well.
The lottery was set up not to be another "tax" where the government could use the money for anything, it was set up and designed to be used for a wide range of special projects that helped society in some way. Those decisions are always going to attract criticism from some one somewhere as to the merit of what is spent. Hence the no win situation. Personally I like to see us do well at sports and if the lottery money is helping that then I am all for it, but its not just about the elite athletes. Its about facilities, coaching, youth set up and talent spotting and nurturing. Its about making sure that our elite athletes can compete without the distraction of a full time job to finance their sports activity, but they only get that once they reach a certain level and the lottery money is helping us to produce more and more athletes that can compete at an international level, so its stated aim is working. Whether that is value for money is always up for debate.
Other countries and sports do it in other ways, the US uses the college system to produce athletes, football uses the professional clubs and their academies and other countries use government money directly to support sport, this is the UKs way of doing it.
The lottery was set up not to be another "tax" where the government could use the money for anything, it was set up and designed to be used for a wide range of special projects that helped society in some way. Those decisions are always going to attract criticism from some one somewhere as to the merit of what is spent. Hence the no win situation. Personally I like to see us do well at sports and if the lottery money is helping that then I am all for it, but its not just about the elite athletes. Its about facilities, coaching, youth set up and talent spotting and nurturing. Its about making sure that our elite athletes can compete without the distraction of a full time job to finance their sports activity, but they only get that once they reach a certain level and the lottery money is helping us to produce more and more athletes that can compete at an international level, so its stated aim is working. Whether that is value for money is always up for debate.
Other countries and sports do it in other ways, the US uses the college system to produce athletes, football uses the professional clubs and their academies and other countries use government money directly to support sport, this is the UKs way of doing it.