High cost of inter-island travel 'killing off local sport' in the Channel Islands
ITV Channel's Emma Volney reports on how Jersey sport has been threatened by high costs of inter-island travel
The high cost of inter-island travel is "killing off local sport", according to the Jersey Football Association (JFA).
The organisation is currently looking to travel to Alderney for the Muratti at the end of March, but the travel cost for each player is £400 - double that of 2018.
The team will now have to fly to Guernsey before getting a boat to Alderney in a bid to save the Association money.
David Kennedy from the JFA said: "The Muratti is one of many historical fixtures that we take part in, but we don't receive funding to take part in it.
"That means we're going to have some conversations, not just around the Muratti, but inter-island travel and some of the wider services that we provide.
"That's not a position we want to be in."
Although clubs, like the Jersey Bulls, can apply for travel grants through Jersey Sport, they do not often cover inter-insular events.
The money is mostly limited to helping disabled athletes and people under the age of 24.
Rising costs have already forced Jersey's male basketball team to withdraw from the Island Games, and Jersey's footballers have pulled out of the Combined Counties Premier League Cup.
Organisations are now putting pressure on local governments to boost funding and protect inter-island sport.
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