THE government is so short-sighted over the chance to stage the 2012 Olympics in London it defies belief.

London wants it, the British Olympic Association wants it so the only other backing needed to complete the necessary trio is that of the government.

But as usual, Tony Blair's mob are less than convinced about spending money on sport.

The government is not interested in sport unless it affects its popularity as the Wembley Stadium and Picketts Lock fiascos prove.

Now they will weigh up whether spending between two and four billion pounds on staging the Olympics in London will cost them votes before they decide which way to go.

I hope every Labour supporter in the land threatens to vote Monster Raving Looney Party if the government turns down this chance because we are not talking about a two-week event in nine years time but the future of all sport in this country for decades, even centuries after.

It would be the best £4 billion ever spent for the legacy an Olympics would give to British sport.

The dilapidated indoor training facility at Crystal Palace is the best we can offer our elite athletes at the moment. It rains in through the roof, the heating doesn't work, tiles are missing and world class athletes like Steve Backley, Dean Macey and Dwain Chambers are expected to use it and win gold medals.

The situation is so bad that Chambers and other elite athletes spend their winter in America being trained by an American coach in facilities and conditions that athletics agent and former sprint champion John Regis says "create the perfect environment for world class sprinters".

Is it any wonder America always beat us on the track? You only get out what you put in and we don't put any real money into any sport but football in this country.

America and Australia laugh at us but they would not be laughing if we got the Olympics.

We would build magnificent facilities for the Olympics and they would be there for decades after to encourage and develop our talent.

It would be the same in dozens of other sports for which there is nothing but the basic training facilities at the moment.

We would have to build fantastic facilities for boxing, swimming, cycling etc which would remain for the long term to enhance our sporting talent and reputation just like the massive investment over the last ten years has in Australia.