Lord Desborougb, the President of the British Olympic Council. has
a letter in the Daily Mail of Thursday appealing for funds to entertain the numerous foreign visitors who are coming to take part in the Olympic Games. The Council have so far appealed almost in vain. They have incurred already an outlay of £8,600 in the organisation of the games, and towards this only 22,840 has been subscribed. As for hospitality to our guests, there is not a penny with which to provide it. The receptions, excursions, and dinnera which had been planned by the Council have all had to be abandoned, and the Council faces the prospect of being able to do nothing whatever. This is certainly not as it should be. Athletes are coming from almost every civilised country in the world, and it is certain that if we visited their countries in similar circumstances we should be entertained moat generously. That has already been the experience of the Englishmen who took part in the Olympic Games at Athens. There money was granted by the State; but here, where we boast of leading the world in the principles of amateur sport —which implies good-fellowship if it implies anything—the £10,000 for which Lord Desborough asks ought to be subscribed voluntarily and at once. Could there not be an amicable levy on the athletic clubs throughout the country P
Previous page
