Federation of Irish Cyclists president Pat McQuaid has claimed that his organisation might not have any athletes eligible for the sports grant carding scheme next year because running budgets have been halved.

He criticised the method of grant allocation as the Minister for Tourism and Sport Dr Jim McDaid announced details yesterday in Australia of this year's carding scheme for Ireland's high-performance sports men and women.

Dr McDaid announced that he will be awarding at least another £1 million to the 1999 scheme.

McQuaid, however, is not happy. "Our internal budget has been cut by 50 per cent. We might not have cyclists on the carding scheme next year because were don't have the money to compete anywhere." He went on to cite the case of the Irish winner of the World Junior title last year. "Mark Scanlon has nothing yet although we believe he will receive around £3,600. The others on the team who helped him win the world title won't get anything. To put things in perspective, the four British riders in the same race will get £18,000."

Dr McDaid announced improvements and modifications in the 1999 scheme. Athletes who have reached international or world class, the highest levels of the graded scheme, may opt to have up to 50 per cent of the maximum grant applied to their living expenses.

In addition any player or athlete who achieves a qualifying performance standard between now and the end of September 1999 may apply for inclusion in the scheme.

The grant for the international class group will rise from £7,000 to £9,000.