BRITAIN is the fourth biggest economic power in the world. Britain is a sports-mad nation.

Despite these two factors, we do not have a national football stadium, nor a track capable of hosting a World Athletics Championships.

In the eyes of the sporting world, we are a laughing stock.

How could the Football Association arrive at an estimate of half a billion pounds to replace Wembley when new stadia, like the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, have been built for a faction of the cost?

And why, when it had all of the country to chose from for the site of its headquarters, did UK Athletics plump for Picketts Lock, Essex - far away from decent public transport and adequate hotel accommodation?

Sadly, intervention from our Government has only added to the perception of farce. Far from shaking the authorities into action, ministers have only served to add to the confusion, delay and muddle.

A year after Wembley hosted its last match, we don't know if, or where, a replacement will be built.

And a year after successfully bidding to host the 2005 World Athletics Championships, we can't even find a track to stage them.

These debacles have demonstrated that the governing bodies of our mainstream sports need root and branch reform, and that our Government needs to start encouraging excellence, rather than compounding incompetence.