Outgoing UK Sport chair Dame Katherine Grainger says it is “frustrating” that Britain is not staging more major events over the next decade, warning of “a big gap”.
“We risk public investment, we risk global reputation, we risk opportunities for athletes,” the head of the funding agency told BBC Sport.
The former Olympic rowing champion is leaving her role as the most senior figure in Olympic and Paralympic sport after eight years in charge.
As well as funding elite athletes, UK Sport tries to ensure the country bids for and stages the world’s biggest events.
“We’ve got a great reputation for it,” she said. “But I think we’ve got challenges going forward.
“We have a few [events] lined up. But when it comes to ‘mega-events’, after 2028 we’ve got nothing secure.”
The number of major events being hosted in the UK has been declining since the start of the decade.
Britain is set to host the women’s rugby union World Cup in England this year, along with the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
Last week, it was confirmed that the men’s and women’s Tour de France races will both begin in Britain in 2027. In football, the UK and Ireland are staging the 2028 men’s European Championship.
But while the home nations have also expressed an intention to submit a joint bid for the 2035 women’s football World Cup, Grainger says more needs to be done.
“We don’t want fallow years,” she said. “After 2028, we don’t really have anything named. That is quite a big gap.
“There are plenty of events that still are there for the taking. It’s quite obvious why these mega-events are so important to the country, and yet maybe we haven’t made the case clear.
“Maybe it’s a very difficult time, especially for government to support financially, but there’s something we still could do to get more security… We do need more to make sure we’ve got consistent eyeballs on this country, on what we’re doing in sport.
“No one can get complacent of our place within global sport, and I think we still should have big ambitions of what we can do next, and that will take collaboration.”
While UK Sport has secured a record £330m government funding package for its sports over the next four years to pursue medals at the LA 2028 Games, it is hoping for more financial backing to bid for major events.
Winning bids can require several years of campaigning, and Grainger highlighted the 2029 World Athletics Championships, the 2030 Solheim Cup and the 2031 Ryder Cup as possible targets.
She also said there was “a really good conversation” to be had around the Special Olympics for people with intellectual disabilities. It currently sits outside UK Sport’s funding remit, and the event has never been staged in the UK.
The DCMS has been approached for comment.
