All domestic sports leagues and competitions have been cancelled or postponed since the UK went into lockdown on 23 March, though many events were put on hold before the government implemented its measures to combat the spread of novel coronavirus.
In recent weeks, a number of major UK sporting organisations set out plans to resume activities when permitted by the government. Football’s Premier League last week said it intended to restart on 17 June, while the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) published a revised fixture list starting from today, June 1st.
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden yesterday confirmed that professional sports can now resume, albeit under significant restrictions, with all events to take place behind closed doors.
“This is a significant moment for British sport,” Dowden said. “By working with clinicians every step of the way, we are creating the safest possible environments for everyone involved. This guidance provides the safe framework for sports to resume competitions behind closed doors. It is now up to individual sports to confirm they can meet these protocols and decide when it’s right for them to restart.”
Racing will restart from this afternoon, with Newcastle Recourse to host a 10-race meeting from 13:00pm British Summer Time. Newcastle will stage another meeting tomorrow, while Kempton Park will also host its first meeting since before lockdown.
"Football, tennis, horseracing, Formula 1, cricket, golf, rugby, snooker and others are all set to return to our screens shortly," Dowden concluded.
Source: GMB / iGB
