An interesting piece of information came out from the website of Michael Grove MP. The member of parliament for Surrey Heath and Shadow Minister for Housing asked the parliamentary question about granting pigeon racing the status of a sport.

Reply came from Richard Caborn, Minister for Sport, 'Sport England has not received any representations to recognise pigeon racing as a sport'.

The full question and reply are given below;
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received on granting pigeon racing official recognition as a sport; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: Decisions on whether particular activities and pastimes should be recognised as sports are made by unanimous agreement between the home country sports councils. As such it would be inappropriate for Government to intervene. Any decisions to fund recognised sports are made by the individual home country sports councils.

I can confirm that Sport England has not received any representations to recognise pigeon racing as a sport. In the first instance, I would recommend a submission to the relevant Sports Council, outlining the case for recognising pigeon racing. Sport England will be able to provide information on the criteria for recognition of an activity as a sport.