The cash-strapped Australian Rugby Union (ARU) said it was shocked yesterday at a government decision to scrap funding for a national rugby academy in Queensland state.
Former Australian prime minister John Howard committed A$25 million (US$22.5 million) to the project last June, but the new Labor government of Kevin Rudd said it was now being axed under a cost-cutting program.
Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner said Howard's conservative government was "throwing the cash around making desperate promises trying to buy votes" ahead of last November's election, which saw Rudd elected in a landslide.
Tanner said the Queensland rugby academy pledge was among A$643 million in Howard government pledges being axed by the new administration, including plans for a fishing hall of fame and a recycled water system for a Melbourne racecourse.
But ARU chief executive John O'Neill said the academy was a major part of rugby's future planning and it had been banking on the money pledged by the previous government.
"We're absorbing the shock of this decision, the disappointment is profound," O'Neill said.
O'Neill last month revealed that only cash reserves generated when Australia hosted the 2003 World Cup had stopped the ARU going broke.
He said the organization had already spent A$500,000 on designs and feasibility studies for the academy, which was to have been a state-of-the-art facility with a hi-tech gym, 50m training pool and team village.
"We were told the money was in the bank," he said. "There was no contemplation of risk given we were dealing with our federal government."
Just days ago O'Neill revealed the ARU expected to post a A$7 million to A$8 million loss this year despite a A$7 million grant from the International Rugby Board.
He gave a grim outlook for rugby union in Australia, which struggles against rugby league, Australian rules and the burgeoning popularity of soccer among spectators.
O'Neill said Australia's national and Super 14 teams had not been successful enough and the game was not providing the entertainment value that Australian fans demanded.
"Our position has been eroding and, I don't want to be overly dramatic, but unless we find some transforming initiatives, that erosion will continue until it reaches an irreversible decline," he said at the time.
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