Financial crisis hits Uksport
British sport was on the brink of financial implosion after the UK government’s forecasts of a devastating Covid-19 second wave raised fears that competitions and clubs would be folding within weeks.
The Premier League, Rugby Football Union and England and Wales Cricket Board are among more than 100 national and grassroots governing bodies to sign a letter pleading with Prime Minister Boris Johnson for a major bailout as the pandemic tightens its grip again.
Lower-league football clubs told The Daily Telegraph they were running out of time in their bid for support from the top tier while Whitehall edges closer to introducing tough new curbs.
On another day of sporting setbacks, it also emerged that:
■ Leyton Orient’s Carabao Cup tie against Tottenham was called off after a Covid outbreak involving seven players. There were fears that other matches could follow suit as infection rates increase.
The return of fans to all UK venues from October 1 looks doomed, with sports braced for six months behind closed doors or with minuscule crowds. UK government sources told The Telegraph the situation for the sector was ‘‘increasingly concerning’’.
Girls’ and women’s football is at risk of being set back a decade, according to UK Coaching chief executive Mark Gannon, who insists action must be taken to ensure the number of coaches is not allowed to dwindle as clubs and facilities count the cost of lockdown.
Fears are mounting that competitive grassroots sports could be scaled back after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces new lockdown rules today.
UK Ministers are already under pressure from sport to match the support packages, totalling £1.57 billion (NZ$3.02 billion), received by the arts and restaurant sectors. The sporting sector has a workforce of more than 600,000.
Many of the nation’s governing bodies signed a joint letter urging Johnson ‘‘to ring-fence funding for the recovery of the sports and activity sector – or risk fuelling physical inactivity and related illnesses for a generation’’.
UK government sources told The Telegraph that elite competition behind closed doors was poised to continue regardless of Johnson’s announcement. However, the October 1 return of crowds is highly unlikely, and one senior figure in British sport said he feared new limits for the public playing sport again.
Leading figures in lower league football and across rugby said clubs were already on the verge of going out of business. The diminishing likelihood of getting crowds back was described as a ‘‘nightmare’’ by Andy Holt, the Accrington Stanley chairman. He said that League One and League Two were in ‘‘limbo’’ as the Premier League had given no guarantees that it would provide a £200 million (NZ$384.6 million) bailout, which had been first mooted weeks ago.