Having enjoyed the electoral coverage of The Guardian's Anna Kessel and Marina Hyde on the connection between Sport and Politics,yet again an election campaign (allbeit one week old) has lacked any serious discussion concerning the future of British Sport and its role in contemporary society.

For a growing aspect of national life and popular culture it is extraordinary that neither the main political parties nor the media appear intertested in generating a seious debate on a policy area that encroaches on the key government responsibilities of health, education, crime, and social cohesion. This is all the more remarkable in the context of the build up to the London Olympics and the start of the British Golden Decade of Sport.

In attempting to explain this failing, two explanations can be offered. Within the desire to remain ever poulist in approach the tendancy is to focus on football and the Labour Party are encouraging Supporters Trusts to buy shares in their favourite team. More important however, is the persistent failure to fully understand the significance of sport within national life and how it can act as a vehicle for encouraging and instigating critical policy development.