The UK’s leading sports organisations have called for a taxpayer-funded bailout, with the government having scrapped a planned reopening of stadiums in a move that threatens the industry’s fragile finances.

The Premier League, Rugby Football Union, the England and Wales Cricket Board and British Cycling are among a group of 100 sports bodies that have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week.

They are demanding a financial rescue that includes “investment, tax incentives, and regulatory reform” to avoid a “lost generation of sport and activity” across the country. The measures would be similar to the £1.5bn package to support the arts and culture sector in July.

In a statement to parliament on Tuesday, Mr Johnson announced a “pause” on plans to allow fans back into stadiums next month, as part of a broader effort to tackle the rising number of Covid-19 infections across the country.

“I recognise the implications for our sports clubs which are the life and soul of our communities,” he said, adding the restrictions were likely to stay in place for the next six months.

Oliver Dowden, culture secretary, will meet later on Tuesday with leaders from major UK sports including football, rugby, tennis, horseracing and motorsports in order to discuss possible new government support measures for the sector.

Many other countries, such as US, Germany and Japan, have begun to allow the partial return of spectators at sporting events.

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Tanni Grey-Thompson, the paralympic gold medallist and chair of ukactive, the non-profit organisation that represents the sports and fitness industries, wrote in the letter to the prime minister cosigned by other sports bodies: “We are united in our concern that at a time when our role should be central to the nation’s recovery, the future of the sector is perilous.

“Covid-19 has exposed the fragility of vital services and assets, with sports clubs and fitness facilities facing permanent closure, depriving local communities of facilities and programmes on which they depend.”

The Premier League, English football’s top division, has said its clubs face a £540m revenue shortfall due to lost match-day income this season, though this figure is likely to rise as the projection was based on a presumption that some fans would have been allowed back into stadiums from October.

In recent weeks, the RFU and ECB, the national governing bodies of rugby union and cricket respectively, have announced widespread redundancies in an effort to cut costs.

Darren Childs, chief executive of Premiership Rugby, told the Financial Times last week that already lossmaking top-tier English rugby union clubs face the “very real” prospect of going bust without the return of paying spectators in the coming months.

“It’s becoming increasingly more alarming, the longer it goes on,” he said. “We’re trying to keep the show on the road.”

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