Robertson warns Britain over “sense of entitlement” 13/10/2010 |
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Sports minister Hugh Robertson believes Britain must stop using the term "Decade of Sport" as it implies a “sense of entitlement” to host major sporting events.
"Nothing will hurt us more, or kill the likes of our 2018 football World Cup bid, quicker than any sense of entitlement," Robertson told Inside the Games.
"With our 2018 bid, for example, the moment we say ‘This needs to come to Great Britain because we haven’t had it longer than anyone else’ is the moment it is dead in the water.
"We have made that mistake in the past with major sporting events so let’s not make it again."
The "Decade of Sport" term was commonly used by the likes of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and London 2012 chairman Lord Coe to refer to the fact that the Britain had been awarded, or was bidding to host, a number of major international sporting events between 2010 and 2020.
They include the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, the 2015 Rugby World Cup and a bid for the 2018 football World Cup.
But Robertson thinks the phrase must be dropped as it suggests an arrogance about being awarded major championships.
"Technically, our bids for major events in Great Britain will always be extremely strong as we’ve got the venues, we’ve got the transport and we’ve got plans in place regarding how to organise them efficiently, but that doesn’t mean we are owed anything by any stretch of the imagination," he said.
Robertson would like to see more major sporting events come to Britain but pointed out that there were a number of financial implications involved in hosting them, which is why he refuses to commit to underwriting a bid for the World Athletics Championships in 2015.
"Of course I would like to see more major sporting events [in Britain] but there are obviously heavy financial costs involved and we as the Government can’t simply be left to pick up the bills if there are funding gaps," he added.
"We should also remember we should not just be handed any sporting events on a silver platter just because we bid for them.
"We must earn them by illustrating exactly why we are the best candidates to stage them."
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