| UK Sport | |
|---|---|
| Motto | The UK's high performance sports agency |
| Predecessor | Sports Council of Great Britain |
| Formation | January 6, 1997 |
| Purpose/focus | Development of sport in the UK |
| Location | 40 Bernard Street, Bloomsbury, WC1N 1ST |
| Leader | Sue Campbell |
| Main organ | UK Sport Board |
| Parent organization | Department for Culture, Media and Sport |
| Affiliations | British Olympic Association, English Institute of Sport, UK Anti-Doping, The National Lottery |
| Budget | c. £100m |
| Staff | 90 |
| Website | UK Sport |
| Former name | United Kingdom Sports Council |
UK Sport is the UK Government's organisation for directing the development of sport within the home countries.
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The Sports Council previously had been formed in 1972, and had the motto Sport for All. There was also the Central Council of Physical Recreation. In July 1994 it was decided to concentrate sports funding on fewer sports and only those in which the UK succeeded. The Sports Council employed 470 staff. On 8 July 1994 Iain Sproat, the sports minister, outlined proposals to replace the Sports Council with the UK Sports Council (for elite athletes) and the England Sports Council. The other UK countries had their respective sports councils. There was more direct coordination with the British Olympic Association. The former Sports Council concentrated on around 110 sports, but the new UK Sports Council (UKSC) concentrated on around 30. Mass-participation in sport was to be looked after by local authorities. Sebastian Coe, in conversation with Iain Sproat, had given him the idea of financially supporting sporting excellence.
Succeeding the Sports Council of Great Britain, UK Sport was established in January 1997 by Royal Charter as the UK Sports Council. Later that month it was authorised to distribute lottery funding. In February 1997 there were proposals for a British Academy of Sport.
It is now just known as UK Sport.
It is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport: disbursing Government funding and acting as the statutory distributor of National Lottery grants.
It is under the direction of UK Sport's management board. The board is chaired by Sue Campbell (appointed for a four year term from March 2005). Four organisations fulfil roles for the four individual nations: Sport England, sportscotland, Sport Wales and Sport Northern Ireland.
The headquarters is situated near University College London, near the British Museum, and south of the main railway stations. It is opposite Russell Square tube station, off the A4200.
UK Sport is the official sports body that governs drugs testing of athletes in the UK on a regular basis.[1] Testing is conducted by a Doping Control Officer (DCO) from Britain's National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO). It is a subsection of the internationally recognised and authoritative World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). WADA is recognised by the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games.