More cash to help our sports survive
The Government yesterday announced a new £300million recovery package for sport in England.
As he unveiled his Budget in the House of Commons, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said £700million was being made available to art, culture and sporting institutions dealing with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
And the Treasury on Twitter said there was ‘£300m to back clubs and governing bodies across a wide range of sports in England.’
The exact money each sport will receive has yet to be made public.
Sunak - a big football fan (he supports Southampton, having been born in that city) - also spoke of the Government’s financing backing for a potential joint bid from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to host football’s 2030 World Cup.
He said in his statement to the Commons: ‘We’re making available £700million to support our incredible art, culture and sporting institutions as they reopen, backing the UK and Ireland’s joint 2030 World Cup bid, launching a new approach to apprenticeships in the creative industries, and extending our £500m film and TV production restart scheme.’
Sport minister Nigel
Huddlestone tweeted that as well as £2.8m put towards the World Cup bid, and £1.2m for the England-hosted Women’s European Championship that is set to take place in 2022, there would be
£25m for grassroots football facilities via the creation of 700 new pitches (expected to be 3G).
Next year’s Women’s Euros is set to be staged at eight venues, including two - at Brighton and Southampton - on the south coast.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the £300m fund would ‘help spectator sports such as cricket, tennis and horse racing’.
Asked about funding for cricket within the package, England captain Joe Root said: ‘If it’s going to benefit the game all the way down that’s fantastic.
‘It’s really important we all do everything we can to look after the game from top to bottom.
‘It does take money to do that. The fact the game is being looked after is a really positive thing and it’s great to hear that.’
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee chair Julian Knight said: ‘It is welcome that the Treasury has listened to the case pressed by this committee for additional support for our outstanding arts, creative and sporting sectors that have been hit so hard by the impact of the pandemic.’
Yesterday’s funding announcement follows a £300m sport ‘winter survival package’ announced last November.
But most of that money - around £250m of it - is being handed out in low interest loans rather than grants. It is not yet known whether the same will apply to the summer sports package.