WRU set for support fund as health crisis hits finances

THE Welsh Government is set to announce a financial package of support for the Welsh Rugby Union, which has been hit by huge losses running into tens of millions of pounds during the coronavirus pandemic.

The ‘spectator fund’ will help rugby, football and other sports in Wales after weeks of positive discussions.

WRU interim chief executive Steve Phillips told BBC Sport in December he was hoping for a financial package of between £30m and £40m from the Welsh Government. The package is expected to be a combination of loans and grants.

The WRU negotiated a separate £20m bank loan to help the four professional regions survive the next 12 months back in the autumn amid a £22m shortfall from their normal funding.

The regions will have to pay the money back over five years.

A ban on fans at games, and the inability to host concerts at the Principality Stadium, has taken away the union’s biggest source of income during the past year.