MPs launch inquiry to assess impact of coronavirus on grassroots sport

The future of grassroots sport in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic will be the subject of a new inquiry by MPs.

The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee has announced it will examine the risks facing community sport as a result of Covid-19.

Sports clubs face financial difficulties, with bars and clubhouses losing custom as a result of restrictions put in place to limit the spread of the virus.

The inquiry, called 'Sport In Our Communities', will look at how sport under the remits of UK Sport and Sport England is funded and governed.

DCMS committee chair Julian Knight said: "We've heard a lot about Covid's impact on elite professional sport but we want to shift the focus to our communities - our venues, clubs and local teams, who play football, rugby or cricket.

"Grassroots sport has been hit particularly hard by lockdown and concerns over public health. We cannot take for granted the survival of clubs that offer so much to the people who engage with them and support them.

"We'll be looking at what help is needed now to safeguard sports clubs especially those whose viability was in doubt even before the pandemic. We'll be questioning the organisations whose role it is to actively support them and asking when it comes to spending public money, how far up the ladder should community sport come?"

The inquiry will be inviting written submissions up to November 16.

PA