Cheltenham Festival should probably not have taken place, says Racing Ireland CEO
Written by News on 29/04/2020
The Cheltenham Festival should probably not have been allowed to go ahead last month shortly before the United Kingdom went into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Horse Racing Ireland CEO Brian Kavanagh has said.
Around 60,000 spectators on average attended each day of the four-day horse racing festival from March 10-13, before Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked people to stop frequenting public places three days after its conclusion and the country was then locked down on March 23.
The UK government defended its decision to allow sporting events to go ahead at the time, including the Liverpool-Atletico Madrid Champions League game at Anfield.
But Kavanagh said it might have been better if Cheltenham had been held without fans or not at all.
“It was unfortunate because it was the last major sporting event to take place [in Britain],” he told the Sport for Business website.
“Should it have taken place? With hindsight, probably no, but everyone’s wise after the event and the British government was saying that everything was OK.
“That was the very week where the whole thing ramped up with coronavirus… The images from Italy started to come through in great detail and by the end of that week, we were racing behind closed doors in Ireland.”
Italy, which was the first European country to impose a lockdown in March, was one of the worst-hit countries in Europe last month and has recorded more than 27,359 deaths so far due to the virus.
The number of coronavirus deaths in the UK has risen sharply to more than 26,000, as those in care homes and in the community were included in the government’s figures for the first time on Wednesday.
“I think with hindsight, people would recognise that Cheltenham would have been much better if it went behind closed doors,” Kavanagh added.
“Not a decision that we have any control over, it’s entirely a matter for the British authorities and the British government.”
(c) Sky Sports 2020: Cheltenham Festival should probably not have taken place, says Racing Ireland CEO
