Sport England will step in and aid four governing bodies financially if UK Sport’s decision to cut their funding is maintained.

Badminton, fencing, weightlifting and wheelchair rugby were informed that their elite funding would be pulled for the four-year Tokyo 2020 cycle, prompting outcry from the sports’ respective national governing bodies (NGBs).

But Sport England director of sport Phil Smith said the grassroots sports quango would “support the sports” and “give them reassurances that we will help them”.

However, he said that Sport England would be unsure about how it could offer that support until appeals had been made, and that the organisation would not be able to step in and fund world-class sport programmes in the mould of UK Sport.

Sport England has deferred its talent investment grants for the four sports until appeals are cleared up, which should be early-2017.

“Because the talent investment part of the funding is about supporting the creation of athletes for the world-class programme, we don’t think it’s the right time to make a decision when the sports have some uncertainty about their world-class programme,” Smith told Sports Management.

“I spoke to all four governing bodies concerned and we might need to rewrite their funding plans whether they will or won’t get world-class funding. We are definitely going to invest in and support these sports.”

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