Speaking during an event at Parliament entitled the "Importance of Sport", Sir Clive made an impassioned appeal to MPs and Peers not to waste the unique chance that the capital staging the Games offers.

He said: "[London] 2012 offers us a once in a lifetime opportunity to encourage more people to participate in sport, to ensure they have fun and enjoy it. 

"Sport is my life - sport is an important part of many of your lives - and I passionately believe that introduced to the right sport in the right circumstances, everyone in this country can benefit from it as much as I have.

"It is no easy feat delivering a sports legacy from hosting a major event. 

"No previous Olympic Host City has managed to achieve anything significantly tangible. 

"But we in sport and the world of politics could ensure that there are policies in place to make sure we seize this unique opportunity."

The timing of Sir Clive's speech is well-timed as Britain begins to gear up for a General Election - which is expected to be held in May - which is expected to be a bitter battle between the ruling Labour Party, who have been in Government since 1997, and the Conservatives.



Colin Moynihan (pictured), the chairman of the BOA and a former Sports Minister under Margaret Thatcher's Government, echoed Sir Clive's thoughts on the need for a clear sporting legacy plan for 2012.

Moynihan, who sits in the House of Lords, said: "The opportunity to deliver an Olympic sports legacy from the Games, not just for London but across the United Kingdom is a unique event in our lifetime.

"The hosting of the Games has raised the profile and political popularity of sport higher up the political agenda than ever before.

"Post-2012, competing demands for public funding will reappear and the challenge for those of us in sport will be to ensure that, having reached for the skies, we secure, post 2012, as high a cruising altitude for the world of British sport as possible.

"Now is the time to build upon and develop a coherently designed, financed and implemented Olympic Sports Legacy Programme, with all 2012 stakeholders working together to support and contribute to its success."

Moynihan has suggested the essential elements for a sporting legacy plan, which he claims a sports infrastructure and facilities plan; a volunteering strategy; and systematic approach to the delivery of coaching at all levels of sport throughout the UK.

Sir Clive called for support from both sides of the House.

He said: "All-Party support and co-operation was essential in bringing the Games to London and we need a similar level of commitment to ensure the sports legacy is not lost. 

"I would like to see all of us in sport and all political parties coming together to ensure that we achieve a step change in active participation in sport.

"In these difficult economic times I think we are fortunate in having something as positive as London 2012 on the horizon.

"Nothing can lift the nation’s spirit like sporting success can – let’s ensure we achieve some of the wider benefits too and we can genuinely help to improve the British quality of life."

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