UK Sports Minister Hugh Robertson says Olympics target will not be met
The English Sports Minister, Hugh Robertson has recently confessed that the London 2012 Games will not be meeting its target of inspiring one million more people to take up sports.
During the time that the bid for hosting the Olympic Games in 2012 was made by the city of London, one of the key points of the bid was to inculcate a total of one million more people to take up a new sporting activity.
However, this figure has proved to be foolishly optimistic as only 110,000 more people have taken up a new sport. In the seven months time that is left for the Olympic Games to start off, it would not be realistic to assume that the one million mark will
be reached by the London Organising committee for the Olympic Games.
After having admitted that the overly optimistic target of inculcating one million people into sports through the London 2012 Olympic Games will not be met, Robertson diverted attention towards some of the brighter points of the event. The Minister of Sports
mentioned that a significant amount of money is being invested to increase sporting activities in youngsters by providing schools with sporting facilities.
However, the £100m amount allocated for this purpose is being criticised by some quarters. This is not the only investment that is meeting with criticism, the £81m that is being spend for the opening as well as the closing ceremony is also being criticised.
The Minister of Sports Hugh Robertson said, “It is disappointing – a million sounds like a target that was plucked off the wall and it was. Do I think it's money well spent? Yes I do. The opening is a spectacular. Get it wrong and we will spend three or
four days batting back why was the opening ceremony such a failure. It will kick the thing off in the worst possible way. Given the importance we are putting as a country and using 2012 to drive economic growth and tourism, it would be foolish not to spend
what is necessary to lay on a good opening ceremony.”
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