New Zealand gives sports sector $157 million boost to get through COVID-19

FILE PHOTO: New Zealand's Finance Minister Grant Robertson speaks during a media conference in Wellington, New Zealand, May 17, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Barrett

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's struggling sports sector has received a NZ$265 million ($157 million) injection from the government to help it mitigate some of the worst financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sports Minister Grant Robertson said on Sunday.

Robertson, who is also New Zealand's finance minister and delivered the national budget on Thursday, said funding and revenue had dried up for nearly all sports organisations and that they were under "immense strain".