UK Athletics handed £150,000 in lottery cash to stage London Diamond League

Cash-strapped UK Athletics has been handed £150,000 of lottery cash to help stage next month’s London Diamond League in a major boost for the struggling governing body.

At one stage, UKA feared they could lose around £500,000 from the meeting at the London Stadium but insiders have told the Guardian that the injection of the money from UK Sport’s major event fund – along with the sale of 39,000 tickets so far – will help it break even.

That will come as welcome news for UKA which last year lost £1.8m and has seen its remaining reserves of £400,000 plunge further in 2023. Recently it was forced to make 10 staff redundant and to cut costs in other areas.

UK Sport’s chief executive, Sally Munday, explained that the ‘exceptional’ award – which was half what UKA had asked for – would help cover a proportion of the projected deficit and preserve the long-term viability of hosting the Diamond League in London.

“We have a talented group of British athletes who we are looking forward to seeing competing on the Diamond League stage in London in just a few weeks’ time,” she added. “We want the UK to remain on the Diamond League calendar and for the event to become financially sustainable as quickly as possible.”

There have been fears that UKA is facing bankruptcy but speaking recently, its chief executive, Jack Buckner, insisted that the organisation would survive. “It’s hard yards and it’s not pretty but we’ve got a good plan,” he said. “It’s a bit like a hard season, you’ve got to work your way through it. We’re going to be OK. I’m optimistic.”

Buckner, who told the Guardian he was “pleased” with the UK Sport award, also insisted that the funding for Britain’s top athletes ahead of the Paris Olympics would be ring-fenced. However