Amid dwindling funds for sports training, Australia’s Olympic chief John Coates has joined calls for the government to set up a A$50 million ($37.35 million) online lottery.

Reuters reported that Coates was “100 percent supportive of the lottery proposal” made by Mark Arbib, a former sports minister recently appointed Athletics Australia chief, and Swimming Australia boss John Bertrand, since it will help keep Australia’s sports program competitive in the face of rising spending by their rivals.

It cited the case of the UK – a traditional close rival of Australia at the Summer games – as a reason why the country should rely on lottery to fund its sports program.

During the Rio 2016 Olympics, UK improved its medal standing to second place, thanks to a huge increase in funding for elite sports courtesy of the country’s national lottery.