GB Badminton left 'staggered' after UK Sport reject their funding appeal

UK Sport have upheld their decision to withdraw £5.74m of funding to badminton ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Feb 2017, 13:12 BST
Updated 1st Mar 2017, 09:38 BST
The Badminton Centre in Loughton LodgeThe Badminton Centre in Loughton Lodge
The Badminton Centre in Loughton Lodge

The sport's governing body lodged an appeal with UK Sport after the initial announcement, made last year.But today (Monday), UK Sport upheld their decision to withdraw badminton's funding, despite securing a bronze medal in Rio last year, courtesy of Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge in the men's doubles.

A statement from GB Badminton, who are based in Loughton Lodge, read: "We are staggered by this decision. Given the strength of evidence we were able to present to justify investment, we cannot believe UK Sport has concluded that they should stand by their decision and award zero funding to our GB programme.

"We have players who are on track to win medals for the nation at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and our belief in those players remains as great as it’s ever been.

"We will now take some time to consider our next steps."