With funding from UK Sport having been reduced by around two-thirds at the beginning of the year, British Handball has been forced to cut out many of the facilities and services which helped to give the sport a Green rating last year.

British Handball themselves suggested a red rating for their programme, but there remain several areas where positive progress is being made – crucially in athlete development - they claim.

The cut in funding has meant the loss of services such as lifestyle support, sports psychology, nutritional support, professional video analysis, and the de-centralisation of the programme has led to inconsistencies in the care of athletes who are now based with different clubs and in different countries.

In the review process, British Handball was praised by UK Sport, which acknowledged that staff had done an “exceptional job” in negotiating professional training and competition opportunities for athletes.

British Handball chairman John Brewer said: "British Handball remains fully committed to entering both men’s and women’s teams in the 2012 Olympics.

"We’re not surprised that we got a red rating, given the cut in funding at the start of the year which resulted in us having to shelve the centralised training programme in Denmark.

"We’re actively looking for a new base for British Handball, and are supporting all of our athletes at their clubs in Europe.

"On a personal note, I’ve worked with both the England football and cricket team at World Cups, but I’ve been extremely impressed with the professionalism and commitment of everybody involved with British Handball."