I have already written an article on Sports funding but below is an article on the "most outrages benefits cheats"part of it features Judoka Simon Jackson I also expect he was getting UK Funding. What is more important is not that one rogue sportsman has been cheating the system, we should also look how we fund sport in the UK. Because we had a very successful Olympic Games in London, the Government stance is support those athletes who are potential Olympic Medallist. So they have chosen just a few sports where we as a country get a good success rate, this funding goes mainly to individuals for training travelling etc. So we the Tax Payer spend Millions on just a few individual to win medals, who in turn these medallist go on to carve a lucrative career in such things as show business. Tom Daly is prime example 19 years old Diver who has his own TV show has recently made a rather spurious video of being Gay which was picked up by the Media which in turn gave him a lot of publicity or the Swimmer who recently appeared in "I am a Celebrity" Will they pay their Grant Money back NO Will they contribute something their sport? I hope so. As someone who has won World medals and was an Olympic reserve (in the days when their was very little grant aid) you do your sport not for some altruistic reason you do it for yourself and the Olympic Dream becomes an obsession. Not only do you get the adulation of being an Olympic Medalist and the riches that follow you most probably get some sort of honour i.e OBE. Not bad for something you done purely for you own self gratification that in itself is not all wrong all of us are guilty of that sometime in our life.
The Government logic is that winning medals encourages people to take up Sport well that has certainly not worked. Sports Funding should be concentrated on the Grass Roots, this way Tax Payers money is utilised for the many not the few we want more people taking part. During the Cold War the USA and USSR used their prowess in Sport to justify and promote their political ideology it seem Cameron and his cronies are doing the same. This Government members have come from Elite Social Backgrounds and believe the way forward is to help the Elite in Society
Blind athlete Simon Jackson, who won three gold medals at Paralympic
Games, was prosecuted in January this year.
The 40-year-old judo star from Littleborough, near Oldham claimed
£10,000 for taxi rides, but then then let his wife drive him and pocketed the
cash.
He escaped jail after insisting he was 'ashamed' of his conduct and had
been subjected to abuse following his exposure. But was handed a
four-month community order and a curfew.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2524717/Top-10-outrageous-benefits-cheats.html#ixzz2oxEGKUev
Follow us: @MailOnline on
Twitter | DailyMail on
Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment