Rust in plea to government not to single out betting shops after lockdown ends

BHA chief executive Nick Rust has implored the UK government not to treat betting shops differently from other retail outlets amid fears they could remain shut under the new tiered system to be introduced when the lockdown in England ends on December 2.

Non-essential shops are expected to reopen but reports suggest bookmakers may be forced to stay closed in areas with higher infection rates. Rust, whose stance is supported by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), said there was no basis for betting shops to be treated differently.

The month-long coronavirus lockdown is estimated to have cost racing £12.5 million in lost levy and media rights payments due to the closure of all 5,681 betting shops in England.

Rust said on Sunday: “Cabinet have been meeting to discuss what is going to happen, so we’re waiting on the news to see what happens. We’ve made clear to government as best we can that we don’t see the case for betting shops being treated differently from other so called ‘non-essential retail’ and we hope they take that into account when making their decisions.

“There is no evidence we have seen through the work done with the BGC through the test and trace system that betting shops have been a contributor to the spread of the virus.”

Betting shops have offered to voluntarily introduce fresh Covid restrictions in order to be allowed to reopen after the latest English lockdown.

Bookmakers in Northern Irealand will close from November 27 under a two-week lockdown. More than half of Scotland's betting shops have shut after 11 council areas were placed under the country's strictest lockdown restrictions. Betting shops in Wales reopened this month.

Rust is hoping pilot events to test the return of spectators back to racecourses can resume after Christmas, but stressed any plans would need to be in line with the measures outlined for England by prime minister Boris Johnson.

Discussions are continuing with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Rust said: “We’ve been working closely with government to make sure we’re at the forefront of any pilots with regards to spectators returning. It’s a difficult message to come out and say we’re returning to pilots for sport if we’re telling people they can only have one day at Christmas with one other household.

“DCMS is working hard to make sure these pilots are on and we’re pretty confident we’ll have some pilots certainly in the period immediately after Christmas and leading up to the spring period.”

Details on the £40m in loans available to racing from the UK government are expected to be revealed on Monday, with Rust hoping they will not be restricted towards helping racecourses alone.

Nick Rust: expecting loans to be on favourable termsCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

He said racing would work together to ensure the maximum uptake of the loans being offered and to create a way for the sport as a whole to pay back the money.

The loans are part of a £300m winter aid package for selected sports in England adversely impacted by the inability to host paying spectators due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Rust believes they will be on favourable terms.

As part of the process, which is being handled by Sport England, the BHA expects to find out whether the aid will be reserved exclusively for racecourses and whether racing facilities in Scotland and Wales will also be able to make use of the loans.

“We don’t know the details yet, we’re expecting some tomorrow, but we’ve been told that they’ll be on extremely favourable terms,” Rust said.

“We’re hoping and expecting based on what has been announced for Rugby League that the loans will be for probably a period of up to five years for repayment, hopefully with no repayment required in the first year, and with low interest rates.

“The government has listened to us, once again racing has worked closely together with a single voice into government and we need this assistance to help get us through. If we don’t take that up across the sport, if I was in government I’d be wondering why.

“The government is making this money available to us. We have asked for financial support. If we cannot deploy that financial support appropriately across the sport we’re going to be in difficulty aren’t we? There’s no danger of us failing to come up with a plan for this money.”

In the material released by government following Thursday’s aid announcement, racecourses were listed as the only racing institutions able to apply for the funds.

However, Rust outlined that racing as a whole needed to work on the best way to use the money available, with racecourses potentially reluctant to take on extra debt themselves.

Speaking to host Cornelius Lysaght on Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday, Rust added: “We need to work on a package that means the sport works together in paying this money back.

"If it is only racecourses that can borrow, then frankly why would they all want to take on additional loan burdens without the sport providing a way through to help them with those loans?”

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