Exempt amateur boxing from Covid-19 restrictions

Currently young people can go to a pub and drink but cannot take part in amateur boxing, unlike football, rugby and professional boxing. We believe this is unfair, and amateur boxing should be exempted from Covid-19 restrictions so this activity can resume.

This sport can help keep young people off the streets and is an important part of some communities. Many boxers, coaches and officials volunteer their time unpaid yet are unable to compete in the UK. No coaching or education courses are being run and this is detrimental to the next generation of boxers.

This is about allowing volunteers to prove they can provide a safe environment for competitions to take place and boxers to achieve their dreams and careers. These young people need your support.

Sport and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus. That’s why we made sure that people could exercise at least once a day even during the height of lockdown earlier this year - and why we opened up grassroots sport and leisure facilities as soon as it was safe to do so over the summer.

Government recognises the many benefits that boxing can bring, such as in relieving stress, stimulating endorphins, and building physical strength and self-confidence. Boxing clubs are also based in the heart of many communities and are therefore in a unique position to be able to engage people who may feel disconnected. We welcome the work done by organisations such as England Boxing to bring communities together through projects that tackle issues such as knife and gun crime, extremism and holiday hunger; whilst also engaging people with mental health issues, long term health conditions and those from lower socio-economic groups and BAME backgrounds.

Nobody wanted to be in the position of having to introduce further National Restrictions. However, as the Prime Minister said, with the virus spreading faster than expected we cannot allow our health system to be overwhelmed. Therefore, from Thursday 5 November until Wednesday 2 December indoor and outdoor leisure facilities, including boxing venues, will need to close. The National Restrictions are designed to get the R rate under control through limiting social contact and reducing transmissions.

In order for these measures to have the greatest impact, we will all need to sacrifice doing some things that we would otherwise like to do, for a short period of time. We have not introduced further exemptions because once you unpick one activity the effectiveness of the whole package is compromised.

However as soon as we're in a position to start lifting restrictions, grassroots sports will be one of the first to return, and DCMS and Sport England will continue to work with National Governing Bodies to make this happen.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport