The new home of British Fencing was praised as the “perfect example of a world class facility”.

Culture Secretary John Whittingdale made the remarks at the formal opening of British Fencing’s elite training centre in Irving Way, Hendon yesterday.

The centre will help train Team GB fencers and was funded by Sport England and UK Sport.

Mr Whittingdale, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said the opening was especially “good news” in light of the Fifa corruption scandal, which is “obviously causing real concern to a lot of us.”

The Conservative MP had spent the morning making a statement to the House of Commons, following the arrests of several senior Fifa executives on corruption charges on Wednesday.

He told the Times Series: “As we have seen with other sports, the success at the very top depends on investment in athletes and facilities. And that’s how we have managed to be successful, and this is a perfect example here of a world class facility.

“I have been speaking to athletes here about the huge difference this will make to them. This is absolutely good news for British sport and fencing.”

Matthew Offord, Conservative MP for Hendon, welcomed the opening of the centre and the opportunities it could bring – especially given the programmes running in east London as part of the Olympic legacy.

The newly re-elected MP said: “It’s certainly an international facility we can be very proud of locally.”

British fencing performance director Alex Newton said: “The athletes love it, being in their own environment. Already for motivation you can see the difference.

“As we prepare for the European Championships, which start next week, we could not have a better training environment in which to prepare our athletes.”

Marcus Mepstead, an athlete based at the centre, said: “Moving to this new dedicated centre is very exciting. We’ve been here for a couple of weeks already and everyone is really happy. I am preparing for the European Championships next week and we couldn’t ask for better facilities.”