Yesterday I met with the Lancashire FA about participation in grassroots football, following recent guidance for it to cease in South Ribble
A number of you have been in touch following the announcement, at the end of last week, that some of our areas were being advised by Lancashire LRF & Lancashire FA to suspend footballing related activities.
Yesterday; I met with CEO of Lancs FA Simon Gerrard, along with other local MP's
I raised your concerns including why this decision was made when it doesn't align with national guidance.
Simon explained the evidence he was presented with on COVID viral spread, by the Lancashire Director of Public Health, LCC & Lancashire Local Resilience Forum. He was keen to emphasis this is a decision he made on health professional advice, his primary concern during this awful pandemic is to keep people in Lancashire safe.
Update - I’ve raised this with the DCMS Sports minister. His DCMS officials have spoken to FA & Lancs Public Health, a meeting took place yesterday and another meeting will take place tomorrow. They said "Together we are working to ensure public health officials are supported as current guidance minimises transmission."
I hope that by working with Simon's Local FA leadership team, these meetings give us all clear guidance as to when we can safely withdraw these local restrictions.
Let's all look forward to kicking those balls and celebrating those worldy goals when safe very soon
