Hoey soothes cash cut fears

Kate Hoey, the Sports Minister, has denied Britain's successful Olympians are to suffer a cut in their lottery grants. Matthew Pinsent and Denise Lewis have spoken out against a move which seemed set to be made after athletes received letters before heading to Sydney which suggested their income was to be reduced.

Kate Hoey, the Sports Minister, has denied Britain's successful Olympians are to suffer a cut in their lottery grants. Matthew Pinsent and Denise Lewis have spoken out against a move which seemed set to be made after athletes received letters before heading to Sydney which suggested their income was to be reduced.

Pinsent launched a tirade at Heathrow Airport yesterday after touching down with the members of the British squad. But Hoey insisted the athletes have nothing to worry about and added her department were trying to find ways to increase the money available. She said: "There is no question of the overall money distributed to élite athletes going down. I want to see if we can strengthen it."

Hoey said concerns had been raised because of meetings UK Sport held with governing bodies a few months ago in which they made a projection that their income from the lottery would fall in the next three years.

"Obviously they pointed out that if they didn't receive any extra funding the budget would have to be cut," Hoey said. "Since then Tony Blair has pledged £750m to school sport over the next three years. Gordon Brown has also given the UK Institute of Sport £4m, which was going to come directly from the lottery so that money can now be released as well."

Hoey refused to speculate on suggestions that Britain could launch a bid for the 2012 Olympics, even though the revamped Wembley Stadium is unlikely to host any athletics and the new Pickett's Lock site - venue for the 2005 World Athletics Championship - is not deemed big enough to host the event.