The Covid-19 crisis has offered the football industry an opportunity to ‘re-set’ its financial models, management structures and approach to diversity, according to the DCMS.

The Impact Of Covid-19 On DCMS Sectors report, issued today, July 23,  said it was “deplorable” that the Premier League clubs made use of the Government’s Job Retention Scheme and furloughed non-playing staff while continuing to pay players’ wages in full.

The report supports calls from elite sports organisations for the Government to extend the financial assistance programmes for those organisations unable to generate revenue until mass gatherings are permitted.

Among the recommendations made by the committee, chaired by Conservative MP Julian Knight, are:

  • DCMS works with HM Treasury to identify organisations within the professional sport sector that remain unable to generate revenue until mass gatherings are permitted again, and ensure that the systems that have helped them survive the crisis thus far, such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the VAT and PAYE deferral period, are extended beyond the current cut-off dates, and backdated where the schemes have already come to an end
  • DCMS should engage with the Premier League and the EFL to learn lessons from abroad on policies such as salary caps
  • DCMS should revise Code for Sport Governance, adding targets for BAME representation on boards
  • Government should outline how it intends to support the women’s game post-crisis and ensure that, going forward, men’s elite sports are not further prioritised at the expense of the women’s game