AOC chief executive Matt Carroll criticised the funding announcement ©Getty Images

Funding cuts to several sports will cause "enormous problems" in the build-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) claimed following the announcement today.

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) confirmed a number of sports have been granted increases but others in lower medal chance disciplines had been slashed.

Athletics, sailing, gymnastics, water polo and volleyball are among the sports set to have their funding reduced by the AIS as part of their high-performance investment framework.

Table tennis and artistic swimming are reportedly on the list of disciplines to have the entirety of their money cut owing to their lack of medal potential at Tokyo 2020.

The changes to the current funding model have been heavily criticised by the AOC, with chief executive Matt Carroll claiming their preparations for the 2020 Olympics here in the Japanese capital will suffer as a result.

"It would be naïve to think that high performance athletes can enjoy their best preparation when there is financial pressure on coaching, programs, competitions and rising costs," Carroll said in a statement.

"The AOC will continue to argue that investment by government in sport is no different to investment in any other industry - the dividends are different but no less important for the economy and the country, in fact more important."

Athletics is among the sports which is facing a cut in funding from next year ©Getty Images
Athletics is among the sports which is facing a cut in funding from next year ©Getty Images

Funding has been a contentious issue in Australian sport in recent years and was central to a dispute between AOC President John Coates and Sport Australia chairman John Wylie.

The latest announcement will see additional cash injected into sports such as rugby sevens and women's football, while the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia has also been given a funding increase of almost AUS$2.3 million (£1.3 million/$1.7 million/€1.5 million) over the next two years.

A total of 12 high performance programmes are set to benefit from additional funding from the Government-backed AIS.

"Sports that are lifting performance through well thought-out strategic plans, employing coaches and driving improvement in their systems have found themselves abandoned or facing great uncertainty," Carroll added.

“The AOC called for the additional funding to prevent this situation. 

"We strongly urged the government to provide funding directly to the sports through Sport Australia.

"I reiterate, this is not money for the AOC, nor for getting the team to Tokyo, as we are financially independent. 

"Extra investment in the sports themselves should be the priority."