Key British athletic group pulls its Olympics backing

One of the mainstays of financial support for the British Olympic Association , which plans to participate in the Moscow Olympics, has abandoned its backing, Monitor correspondent Rushworth Kidder reports. The 1980 British Olympic Appeal Committee, a prestigious group of 100 businessmen and industrialists, announced Monday it would support the government, which has taken a firm line against the games.

The group, one of several appeal committees here, was scheduled to raise about 30 percent of the L1 million ($2.3 million) needed by the association to fund British athletes. The committee, which has already contributed L100,000 ($ 230,000), has raised no funds since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December.