Scottish ice hockey clubs to receive £350,000 in COVID support

The Scottish Government has allocated £350,000 of financial support to professional ice hockey clubs in Scotland due to the limits imposed to combat COVID.

A £2.55m support package was announced, with football receiving £1.79m, rugby union £125,000, horse racing £265,000 and basketball £20,000.

The Elite League clubs have been forced to play either behind closed doors or with strict capacity limits, severely hampering their finances.

Sports minister Maree Todd said: “These sports clubs are at the heart of their communities, but many of them have suffered real hardships as the necessary Covid-19 lockdown restrictions meant attendances were heavily restricted.

“This funding will help to ensure clubs are able to bridge the gap in revenue as spectators return safely to sports events in larger numbers when these restrictions are eased next week.

“This Government has pledged to provide funding to support organisations affected by the necessary measures to keep us all safe and these allocations show we are doing this.

“We will continue to work in partnership to support all our sports clubs to help them through this difficult time and to ensure this funding can be accessed by all clubs as efficiently as possible.”

Ice hockey and basketball are deemed to be most in need, and will receive their funding directly from sportscotland.

Glasgow Clan recently made the decision to webcast their home matches, having been limited to just 200 tickets per match.