BOA Chief Executive Issues Funding Plea to Government

New BOA Chief Andrew Hunt is looking to secure funding shortfall for U.K. athletes before 2012. (BOA)(ATR) The British Olympic Association's (BOA) new chief executive tells Around the Rings he will do everything in his power to help plug the $118 million funding gap for elite athletes in the run-up to the 2012 Games.

Andrew Hunt is urging the government to “step up to the plate” to honor its 2006 pledge to provide a six-year funding package of $895 million for Olympic sports. “In terms of supporting the athletes, I absolutely do hope the government stands by its commitment,” he said.

In an exclusive interview with ATR, he said the BOA's number one priority was the athletes and admitted concern over the government's failure to fill the shortfall in funding that is jeopardizing Team GB's chances of achieving the fourth place target in the medal table at London 2012.

“The biggest challenge [for the BOA] is making sure the funding is in place to fulfill our obligations,” he said, adding that he wanted to make sure the BOA was working in partnership with all the stakeholders to attract investment and achieve the best results at the Games while leaving a positive legacy.

“We've only got one end in mind and that is success at 2012. Everybody should be completely mutually aligned,” he said.

Cuts in Olympic funding, expected to be announced by U.K. Sport this week, could affect the programs for a number of sports including handball and basketball.

Under the government's six-year funding plan, the Treasury had promised to find $149 million from the private sector. Lottery ticket sales reduced the shortfall to $118 million but the government has not attracted the remaining funding to support the proposed medal target for the 2012 Games; the funding cuts would be in line with an eighth-place target in the medals table. U.K. athletes Chris Hoy and Rebecca Adlington won five medals for Team GB in Beijing. The U.K. will need at least $118 million to reach fourth overall in the medal tally in 2012. (Getty Images)

If the government fails to deliver on its funding promise, Hunt said he would investigate different approaches to bringing in private sector finance to improve the prospects of elite athletes medaling at 2012. But he admitted the BOA was “highly constrained under the joint marketing program agreement with LOCOG.”

Only two weeks into his job, Hunt is quickly finding out about the challenging environment in which he will be operating in the build-up to the London Games. But his determination to raise funding, deliver on a checklist of objectives and raise the BOA's profile is unquestionable.

“It's a tough job, but in terms of building on Beijing and in the run-up to 2012 there can't be a more exciting job in sport,” he said. Describing himself as a “very keen amateur yachtsman” and a big follower of rugby and athletics, Hunt spent over two decades building businesses. He moved to the BOA from Reliance Security where he was managing a firm employing 10,000 people.

He promised to “bring together all that wealth of learning and experience into an environment which I'm very passionate about.”

Hunt, 44, succeeded Simon Clegg who has become chef de mission for Team GB. He plans to provide a “comprehensive leadership approach” to meet the scale of obligations required of the host nation NOC.

“The BOA is pretty unique in the NOC world in that we don't have any government funding so there is a requirement to go out there and raise funds that allows us to carry out the work we are duty bound to deliver,” he explained. In addition to meeting the needs of athletes, the number two priority was to ensure the BOA was in good commercial and financial shape, he added.

Hunt applauded the work of the BOA in recent years, noting the achievements of Beijing, but he insisted it should be playing a broader role “particularly in the promulgation of Olympic values in the U.K. and getting the messaging of the Olympics out there.”

“We want to expand the activities of the British Olympic Foundation. I want to see more athlete involvement and drive their engagement with the NGBs [national governing bodies].”

“It's incumbent on me when we come out of 2012 that we have leveraged all the benefits of being a host nation to ensure we can deliver even more services and values to the NGBs going into the next quadrennium,” he said. Hunt says he is committed to Clive Woodward's plans for an Olympic coaching academy. (Getty Images)

Despite the NOC's own funding problems, Hunt insisted he was committed to pursuing plans for an Olympic coaching academy set out by Clive Woodward, the BOA's director of elite performance.

Woodward's $25 million proposals call for 15 coaches to be given intensive support and finance in an attempt to ensure more gold medals in 2012.

“I'm really hopeful that we will find a way to get it funded. I will do everything I possibly can to make it happen,” he said. Hunt paid tribute to Woodward's work on the coaching scheme, claiming the 2003 Rugby World Cup winning coach had codified some “excellent” methodologies, technologies and sports science experts that brought together could deliver the desired objectives.

He is aiming to secure funding for the coaching academy in the next few months.

Hunt's hectic first fortnight in the post is a sign of what is to come. Hunt sat in on his first Olympic Board meeting last month and has spent time meeting Olympic stakeholders, including key figures at LOCOG and the Olympic Delivery Authority as well as some leaders of the NGBs in British sport. He was also present at the European Olympic Committees annual congress in Istanbul and participated in last week's Beijing debrief in London.

Moving out of the BOA's Wandsworth offices to a more central London location is another priority in the months ahead. He emphasized that it would better position the BOA to provide a host nation service to NOC delegations from around the world who are expected to visit on several occasions before 2012. “That's an important step in terms of taking the BOA to the next level,” he said.

With reporting from Mark Bisson.

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