Some British sporting bodies, including those sending athletes to next year`s Olympics, fear they could go under because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Guardian can reveal. A handful of national governing bodies have privately told UK Sport that they face an existential threat because of the crisis, while at least a dozen more say they are facing a severe financial hit with events being cancelled and other sources of revenue being slashed. One chief executive admitted that his sport would lose more than £1m in the next six months if the shutdown continues, and said his situation was not unique. Last month UK Sport sent a spreadsheet to every Olympic sport to find out the likely financial damage to medal programmes from Covid-19, and to identify which bodies are in distress or could face an insolvency risk in the next three months. Each organisation was asked to use a traffic light system to conduct a financial health check to assess the scale of the problem - with red being on the brink of going bust, amber having a significant financial impact on the organisation, and green meaning they were fairly sustainable.
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