£300m coronavirus rescue package for sport is not enough, government warned

Horse racing, rugby and women’s football are among the sports set to benefit
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The Government has been accused of coming up short in its emergency rescue package for sport, which was being outlined in Parliament today.

Eleven sports are expected to benefit from emergency funds in the region of £300million, with the money expected to come in the form of grants and loans.

But Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston, who was laying out the details of the rescue package in the House of Commons from 1.30pm, was criticised prior to his speech for not doing enough in light of a previous £1.6billion rescue package for the Arts Council.

Both rugby codes have been targeted as two of the main beneficiaries from the financial measures, but Bristol owner Stephen Lansdown warned the sums were coming up short.

He told BBC Radio 4: “It doesn’t sound enough, does it, not compared to what’s been granted to the Arts Council? It seems a pittance compared to that when you’re looking at the amount of people involved in sport around the country.

“We’ve got 12 Premiership clubs. I suspect our losses are all reaching up towards the £10million mark because we can’t get people in through the gates, we can’t sell hospitality. Our business has ground to a halt.

Rugby’s Premiership season will begin behind-closed-doors this weekend
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“We’re being asked to incur expenses with no sign of any income, so that’s the sort of funding we require. But anything will be gratefully received at this point in time because it’s a real struggle out there right now in the sporting arena.”

As well as a financial bailout, sports are also pushing the Government to come up with a timeframe for the return of fans, with some suggestion pilot schemes could be in place for various sports and teams even before Christmas depending on the rate of coronavirus cases in England.

Another big beneficiary from the estimated £300m pot is horse racing, with the Racecourse Association today saying they were still keen to “get a clearer pathway on crowds coming back”.

The sport had trialled pilot events before the Government’s U-turn over an October return date for fans, putting massive pressure on the 59 racecourses under the Association.

The Racecourse Association described the current position as “tough” and warned that a delay in racegoers

returning would start “getting really serious for a few racecourses”.

No funds will be available for the Premier League or the English Football League, but the Women’s Super League will be among those included.

Other sports to benefit aside from rugby, horse racing and women’s football are basketball and netball.

As well as how the funds are divided among the sports, Huddleston is also expected to discuss the potential return of sports fans.

Both the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, as well as Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have said they want spectators back at elite events as soon as possible, with contingency plans being drawn up for fans returning potentially as early as next month in regions with low Covid cases.

With no fans through the turnstiles, a variety of sports and clubs have warned of financial Armageddon because of the ongoing impact of the pandemic on their finances.

Amid the previous Government block on spectators returning, more than 100 sporting bodies wrote a joint letter to the Prime Minister warning that “the future of the sector is perilous”.

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