Team 2012 confident of full funding

With a £50million hole in the team budget, a biting recession and the clock to the London Games already ticking, John Steele believes that the new Team 2012 fundraising scheme could be significant.

On whether Team 2012 could raise enough money to fund a full British squad, Steele said: "I don't see any reason why we should not - it is possible."

Peter Keen, UK Sport's director of performance, added: "What we can be less certain about is just how much of that team has had optimal investment in its preparation."

UK Sport felt it needed more money to do that than it had available and has imposed an investment principle, "funding is a privilege, and not a right, based on merit".

Keen said: "We will spend whatever budget we have for the greatest performance. Could a full team be fielded? Yes. Could that team have done everything that it could possibly have done to prepare? That is to some extent funding dependent."

A new four-year Olympic funding cycle which has now started including budget cuts of up to 76% among eight Olympic sports deemed medal no-hopers in 2012. It has thrown into doubt whether some teams or athletes will appear at the 2012 Games at all.

UK Sport, the elite sports agency, has adopted a no-compromise approach in "unashamedly" investing £304million in mainly potential medal-winning sports for the 2012 Games.

Team 2012 is a new fundraising scheme backed by major sports and political organisations such as the British Olympic Association and London 2012 organising committee.

The scheme gives companies and even individuals the chance to sponsor both the 2012 Olympics and British athletes involved in the Games.