Its not Golf and its not sport

Government blunder has cost the UK the World Athletics Championships

Commenting on the Government's failure to provide a venue to host the World Athletics Championships, Shadow Sports Secretary, Tim Yeo MP, said: "I understand that the IAAF has now finally given up on Britain and decided to offer the 2005 World Athletics Championships to other countries.

"The exasperation of the IAAF in the face of Government dither, incompetence and muddle is very understandable. "Losing the Championships through the Government's complete incompetence and inability to make a decision is a huge blow to Britain which will cost the nation dearly, deny millions of sports fans the chance to see the world's top athletes perform on British soil and remove the possibility of a fine athletics legacy for London.

"Our international sporting reputation has severely damaged the possibility of seeing other major sporting events being awarded to Britain.

"The Government's incompetence has caused embarrassment to Britain on the world stage as this is the first time that a world economic superpower has had to renege on its commitment to host a major sporting championship."

Tim Yeo 19th November 2001