The performance that England put on at Euro 2012 is going to influence the amount of money the FA can spend when developing football stars of the future. The continuing recession is said to be damaging the grassroots football. This week the football Association is set to release its national game strategy which is going to deal with how the sport is run until 2015.
The report is going to outline how football is being affected by the state of the economy. It is not all bad news in the report though as it is expected to show that the amount of racism being seen at football games has fallen significantly. It is also expected that the event which is taking place in the Ukraine and Poland next summer is going to bring in a great deal of revenue for the FA. They have stated that many people are going to be spending money on tickets as well as merchandising.
The head of the FA is Kelly Simmons who has commented, “We are going to see more money brought in if England do well and this will be reinvested back into the game. The FA is a non-profit organisation and we generate money from events such as Euro 2012. We also very much hope that the event is going to bring more attention to football in the UK and bring in economic boost to the sport.”
The FA have also said they are concerned about facilities in the UK falling into disrepair because money is being spent in other areas and sports are often one of the first parts of the budget to be cut. They’ve also said that sports facilities in the UK could learn something from their European counterparts. Other countries in Europe are generally better at creating sports facilities that cater to many sports, this offers great cost savings and allows for higher quality facilities, although less of them.
About the government the FA have commented, “They could definitely do more for the sport and offer greater protection for sports facilities. We understand that there is a lot of pressure on them right now and playing fields don’t seem so important, but sport, and particularly football, is an important part of our culture, and many cities lack adequate facilities.” Research by the FA has shown that the number one issue in the sport is dissent and a near 60% improvement has been seen in this area.