The UK has identified almost 100 international sporting events it hopes to host in the next decade, including the football World Cup in 2030.
In March, the government pledged £2.8m to kick-start a joint UK and Republic of Ireland bid for the tournament.
Funding body UK Sport has earmarked a total of 97 events across 44 sports.
UK Sport’s Simon Morton said major events will be an “important part” of the country’s economic and social “recovery” from the pandemic.
A number of events, including the next year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, football’s Women’s European Championship and the cycling world championships in 2023 have already been secured.
The World Athletics and Para-Athletics Championships, the men’s and women’s cricket World Cups and tennis’ Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup finals are included in a list of “mega events” which the UK has the “opportunity” to try host.
The men’s football World Cup, the 2025 women’s Rugby World Cup and golf’s Ryder Cup in 2031 are among tournaments “undergoing live feasibility studies”.
England failed with a bid – fronted by former captain David Beckham, Prince William and former prime minister David Cameron – to host the 2018 World Cup, which went to Russia.
“Some said that the (2018) bid was perhaps a bit too insular – well we’re talking about a five-nation bid, so the tone is completely different,” said UK Sport’s chief operating officer Morton.
The Norwegian, 48, added: “That’s the players’ focus, that’s my focus but, as I said before the game, we have to listen.
UK Sport’s Simon Morton
Meanwhile, the review of allegations of abuse within British Gymnastics will influence how all Olympic and Paralympic sports deal with athlete welfare and sporting integrity in future, says UK Sport chief executive Sally Munday.
The elite sports funding body intends to publish a paper on integrity in high-performance sport later this month as it focuses on not just winning medals but “winning well”.
It will check that paper against the findings of the Whyte Review before finalising its strategy.
“[The review] is an extremely important moment for our system and our community,” Munday said.
“We need to listen to and understand the conclusions of the Whyte Review and afterwards we will then set out a very clear integrity strategy for the high performance system.”
An interim report in March from the review leader, Anne Whyte QC, revealed they had received information from almost 400 people, leading to 39 referrals being made to the police.
A final draft of the review is expected in August.
Original article 06.05.21 on the BBC Sport website
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