eBusiness Weekly
The sports sector in England will receive a further £300m of rescue funding, Rishi Sunak announced in Wednesday’s Budget, with cricket set to be the prime beneficiary.
The funding, which comes on top of £300m announced in November, is designed to help sports survive as the UK government gradually relaxes restrictions that have barred spectators from attending events at stadiums, depriving the sector of crucial income.
Ministers plan to stagger the return of fans to sporting events, meaning that teams will initially be unable to sell the maximum number of tickets. Under government plans, Wembley and other large stadiums will be allowed to host up to 10,000 fans from May 17.
Separate funding will be provided for sport in other parts of the UK, with £29m to go to Scotland, £18m to Wales and £10m to Northern Ireland.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has warned that it could lose £200m as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and the funding is critical to the game as fixtures pile up ahead of an intense summer schedule.
Tennis and horseracing are also expected to benefit from the latest rescue package.
The chancellor also confirmed that the government will help finance a UK and Ireland bid to host the 2030 Fifa men’s World Cup, the sport’s biggest international football tournament.
Sunak confirmed that £2,8m will be provided for the joint bid — a move welcomed by the football associations of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which will now assess the viability of a bid before Fifa, world football’s governing body, opens the process next year.
The World Cup has not taken place in the UK since England hosted and won the tournament in 1966, defeating West Germany in the final at Wembley Stadium.
England’s last bid to host the World Cup was controversial and unsuccessful with the campaign for the 2018 competition winning just two votes in a process overshadowed by a major corruption scandal involving Fifa executives. The 2018 tournament was hosted by Russia while the 2022 competition, also decided during the same election process over a decade ago, will take place in Qatar.
As well as bidding for the World Cup, the government said it will provide £1,2m to support England’s hosting of the Uefa women’s Euro 2022 international competition next July. — financialtimes.
