International officials have offered the financially stricken British athletics bodies an interest-free loan of £500,000 which they hope will hope keep the sport above water.
The offer came after former world 5,000 metres record holders David Moorcroft and Christopher Chataway flew to Rome to brief Primo Nebiolo, the president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), on the latest developments in Britain.
Nebiolo is keen to ensure that the collapse of the British Athletic Federation (BAF) - which went into insolvency three months ago with debts of more than £2 million - should not hinder the future of the sport.
He is known to be concerned that the cash crisis led to the BAF having to lay off all its national coaches and cut back on its development programmes. "We help many federations, but normally they are smaller and from smaller countries," said Giorgio Reineri. "But this is a very special case. Track and field in Great Britain is so important for our movement and we must ensure its success."
Moorcroft and Chataway are currently heading UK Athletics '98, an interim governing body which is dependent on funding from the UK Sports Council.
It is the second time Nebiolo has offered financial assistance. In October, when the BAF was on the verge of bankruptcy, he was prepared to loan the sport a sixfigure sum. He was turned down on that occasion because Moorcroft did not believe it would solve the sport's problem.
But the irony will not be lost on many in the sport that IAAF are prepared to offer money now. The BAF's financial problems stemmed largely from enforcing the IAAF's rules on doping, which landed them in expensive litigation against Diane Modahl, and the world governing body refused to help underwrite the costs.
