London beach volleyball event cancelled after funding shortfall

“I’m really disappointed,” GB London Olympian Zara Dampney told BBC Sport.

“I was excited that the UK would have been able to see international beach volleyball again and it would have been another chance to compete at home.”

Volleyball England president Richard Callicott added his dismay at the situation, which comes six months on from UK Sport’s decision to axe all financial support for their indoor, sitting and men’s beach volleyball programmes leading into the 2016 Rio Games.

“We’ve lost the opportunity to capitalise on London 2012,” said Callicott, who was hoping the event would be staged at the Score Centre in Waltham Forest, London, as a cheaper alternative to the Olympic venue of Horse Guards Parade.

“We did the business planning but it wasn’t eligible for any grants from anywhere and there was too big a funding gap between expenditure and income.”

UK Sport are committed to investing around £27m of National Lottery funds on their ‘Gold Event Series’, external which aims to bring 70 major tournaments to Great Britain between 2013 and 2019.

But as the potential beach volleyball competition in London did not carry World Series status, it did not qualify for support.