±«Óãtv

Picture the scene in a school playground.

Some of the most senior people in British sport lined up. Waiting to be picked.
Desperate to catch the eye of one man, and one woman.

That's what it must have felt like this morning, as the chairmen and chief executives of and sat by their phones, waiting for a call which would shape their plans for the next four years.

The call came from either Liz Nicholl, director of Elite Sport at , or John Steele, its chief executive.

And the subject was funding.