Assuming businessman and noted sporting reformer David Crawford isn't too sensitive a soul, he probably quite enjoyed John Coates publicly denouncing his report on Tuesday afternoon.

If the object of the report was to ''ruffle a few feathers'', as Sports Minister Kate Ellis said it would, the chief rooster of the Australian Olympic Committee certainly had his plumage roughed up.

To assert our Olympians benefit from a funding bias was provocative enough. To then argue Australia should give up its ''unrealistic'' objective to remain a top-five Olympic nation was, to Coates and many others, basically saying we should trade the boxing kangaroo for a white flag at future Games.

Among the 348 pages were some remarkable comments. Some have been widely picked up on, such as the reference to the funding that archery and water polo get compared to bigger participation sports such as cricket, tennis and golf.

Another bold assertion was that big events such as the Olympics aren't proven to inspire people to take up sport, therefore less emphasis should be placed on their role in boosting participation. Tiger Woods's visit to Australia last week would seem to have punched a hole in that argument.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times