Leyton Orient chief Nigel Travis has implored the government to extend their furlough scheme and give financial aid to football clubs, with the game set to be played behind closed doors for the rest of 2020.
talkSPORT was told by MP Steve Brine on Tuesday that the recent rise in coronavirus cases makes it highly unlikely we will see fans attending live sport again until next year.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce additional lockdown measures later on Tuesday that will put a pause on all planned pilot test events, after a series of sporting events that allowed a limited number of supporters to watch live.
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And as COVID-19 cases rise, it’s likely the postponement of Tuesday night’s EFL Cup game between Leyton Orient and Tottenham will be repeated across the football pyramid, with many teams likely to take huge financial hits if games can no longer go ahead.
Travis, who confirmed to talkSPORT on Tuesday that the clash against Spurs is due to be suspended, insists it’s time the government ‘woke up’ and helped sport survive the crisis.
And that means, Travis claims, continuing to roll out their furlough scheme.
Speaking to talkSPORT host Jim White, he said: “I’m going to make a plea, and I’m probably going to be the first to make a plea – the government has to wake up and decide it’s going to bail out sport.
“If they want sport to help people get off the couches, the get fit, if they want sport for people to watch, they have to help.
“The EFL loss this year with the coronavirus is £200million, so they have to take some positive actions to help. They have to help sport, the arts and all kinds of entertainment.
“The first thing they have to do at the end of this month is they have to extend the furlough program, because there are going to clubs that can’t play and they have to extend it, they have to look at helping the Premier League, and Richard Masters quite rightly has come out and expressed the financial devastation that the Premier League and the EFL is facing.
“We need help, other sports need help and the government can’t expect us to do one thing one week and another thing another week.
They need to help us.
“I’ve been very fortunate in my life and will keep Leyton Orient going, but I can assure you there will be a lot of clubs, not only in the EFL but in other important parts of the pyramid, that will be in trouble.”
Listen back to talkSPORT’s interview with Nigel Travis IN FULL above
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