Steele, a former rugby player and coach with Northampton Saints, who he guided to the European title in 2000, arguably oversaw the most successful Olympic performance in Britain's history when the team won 47 medals, including 19 gold, as they finished fourth overall.

 

But he has had to authorise a number of difficult decisions since after a £50 million shortfall in funding.

 

That has led to several sports, including handball, table tennis and volleyball, being overlooked for funding for London 2012.

 

There has been criticism of the decision but Steele today defended it.

 

He said: "London is now the target for all activity – the prism through which all our actions will need to be seen.”

 

“We are all living in uncertain economic times and sport is not immune. 

 

"The £50 million that the Government announced earlier this month meant that we are now investing record levels of public money into elite sport - but it still left a £50m shortfall on the overall budget we had set in place in 2006. 

 

"This meant some tough calls needed to be made, as we can only invest the resources available to us. 

 

"So not all Olympic and Paralympic sports now have the certainty of funding we would like them to have.

 

“What is absolutely clear is that those tough calls were the right ones. 

 

"We have a clear remit and responsibility: sporting success at the highest level and the development of a high performance system that will continue to deliver beyond 2012. 

 

"Our ‘no compromise’ strategy - which targets resources primarily at those sports and athletes most likely to win medals - meant that we had to be focused around performance outcomes, and it was this and nothing else that dictated our decisions. 

 

“We are the only organisation placed to see clearly how each sport is performing and take the relative decisions on where the priorities should be. 

 

"Our strategy delivers - Beijing showed that - and must be robust, transparent and accountable to withstand the level of scrutiny it receives. 

 

"The days where the money goes to those who shout loudest are long gone and will not return.

 

“The investment decisions we have taken for London mean that we can target a top four finish in the Olympic medal table and retain our second position in the Paralympic, whilst winning more medals across more sports than at any time for the past 100 years.”

 

But Steele vowed not to give up on the sports that did not receive funding.

 

He said: “We remain absolutely committed to every sport and are doing everything we can to ensure that they receive as much investment as is possible given the overall shortfall we face. 

 

"Nobody wanted to be in this position, but now that we are we must work hard with them to identify what their priorities are for funding through to London, where their focus should be, and what additional sources of revenue - be it private investment or through other public bodies - can be found. 

 

"We will do this urgently, and determine in January the final level of funding. 

 

"We will not be giving up - we set out on a mission for 2012 that included all sports and we remain absolutely committed to it.”