Talks in move to end ‘fair shares’ row over funding for sports groups

A SENIOR member of a major sporting body has held talks with a top civil servant following a series of controversial decisions about the way funding was shared out among sports groups.

Glasgow lawyer and former badminton international Ronnie Conway met Scotland’s chief medical officer, Sir Harry Burns, amid a row over moves to slash funding for Badminton Scotland, of which he is vice-president and which has 22,000 members, from £758,0000 to £678,000.

SportScotland was heavily criticised by Mr Conway ahead of yesterday’s meeting at Scottish Government offices in Glasgow. He had complained after the reduction in badminton’s funding came at the same time as financial support for the Scottish Wrestling Association jumped from £173,000 in 2010-11 to £223,000 for 2011-12, despite having only about 200 members.

A spokesman from SportScotland insisted the cutback in funding had been made because of badminton players failing to deliver a single medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

But there was also a demand from Tory MSP Mary Scanlon, a member of Holyrood’s health and sport committee, for a “fairer and more transparent funding model”, after Table Tennis Scotland, which has 2,000 members, saw its funding slashed from £174,000 to £63,000.

Mr Conway said he had received a “fair and courteous” hearing during yesterday’s hour-long talks with Sir Harry.