The United Kingdom government has received strong criticism for its aid being used to fund the training of soccer referees and coaches across China, even as spending cuts are predicted to lead to thousands of deaths this year across Africa and in Yemen.
An official watchdog and aid organizations are demanding to know why the Premier Skills programme — run by England’s Premier League, to “engage and inspire” young people in China — is part-funded by official development assistance, or ODA.
Almost £180,000 ($230,000) of aid will be spent on the grassroots project over three years from 2021 to 2024, Devex has discovered, a figure that is rising annually to £86,071 in this financial year.