§ Mr. SarwarTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assistance his Department has offered to the United Kingdom football associations for(a) recent and (b) future bids to host international football competitions in Britain. [129926]
§ Kate HoeyNo financial assistance was offered by my Department to the FA in respect of the bid to hold the European Championship Finals of 1996. However, my Department made a commitment to providing funding totalling £400,000 for the cultural programme which ran alongside the tournament in the eight host cities. Following the success of the 1996 bid, this amount was paid through the Association for Business Sponsorship for the Arts and the Sportsmatch scheme.
Direct costs to the Government have arisen in respect of the previous Minister of Sport's visits to a number of countries in support of the bid. The cost of these visits was £102,780, although some other Government business was also conducted.
My Department committed a total of £20,000 to assisting the FA's bid to hold the 2006 World Cup. That amount is in respect of the travelling expenses of the Prime Minister's Special Envoy, and £10,000 has been paid to date.