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Football and cricket will be the biggest losers in a recession busting budget as the world of sport gets to grips with the economic crisis.

Sports Minister Glenn Blakeney said he had cut 10.5 per cent from his requested budget for the coming financial year.

And further cuts could be made before Finance Minister Paula Cox finalizes her budget and announces it to the public on February 20.

It is understood that the national sports which have received over $10 million over the past two years, could see their grants cut by as much as half-a-million dollars.

Blakeney said Government had given unprecedented support to the two national sports over the past few years but could not maintain the same level of funding in a global recession.

"Football and cricket will have to bear the brunt of the cuts because they have the most - they will share a big part of the cut back.

"They have been very understanding. I think they know that if the Government had not stepped up to support football and cricket over the past few years they would be in a lot worse position financially than they are now.

"They are sensible people and they understand cuts have to be made."

He said the two national sports, which attract more participants than any other, would still continue to get the biggest grants.

But he insisted a degree of priority had to be given to finishing the National Sports Centre.

"We have provisioned funding to break ground on the aquatic centre, which is about to go out to tender. Over the past several years there hasn't been a commitment made, like that to football and cricket, to the National Sports Centre.

"It has to be completed and anything we can do to bring that project to a conclusion is vitally important for the national interest."

He said projects like the planned sports facility at White Hill Field in Somerset and the proposed training centre at Cooper's Island were still in the pipeline but would move forward more slowly.

All of the 36 National Sports Governing Bodies have been told to expect some cuts.

""This is the second successive year that the ministry has been subject to a budget cut across the board and we have to manage that. We are subject to the trickle down effect of the global economic crisis."

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