SPORTS Wales have issued a stark warning that ‘action must be taken now or we’ll have a nation sat on the sofa.’

The Sports Wales Advisory Group have launched a report who, in a UK first, have worked with trend forecasters to predict the future of Wales and how sport can remain relevant, available and attractive to all.

The report, Acting Today for An Active Tomorrow, claims that an increasingly ageless society, digital technology and an ‘on demand’ culture will have serious implications on the future of Welsh sport.

And unless action is taken now, the future is bleak: “Sporting authorities in Wales are understandably focusing short-term attention on funding cycles while nearly 10 per cent of four and five year olds in Wales are classed as obese,” explains the chair of the Sport Wales Advisory Group Helen Humphrey. “The world around us is certain to undergo transformations in the way we live, work and play over the next 12 years, we must take action now to make sure sport is still relevant to people’s lives in the near future.”

The report reveals that the nature of ageing is changing with those towards pension age now more active than previous generations. Welsh people in their 60s and 70s are now running marathons and being more active and sport providers must accommodate and exploit an ‘ageless society’.

Digital technology also features in the report's recommendations of trends that will impact on the future of sport. It has already transformed the way we communicate, with people now sharing sporting achievement using health apps to rely what they have done.

Teams sports have also been highlighted, with regular training sessions and scheduled games, it faces a huge battle. Competing against other pressures such as family, work and leisure activities, team sports will need to be innovative and flexible in order to survive.

The Sport Wales Advisory Group is made up of an independent, voluntary group of experts across a range of sectors. It reports to the Sport Wales board and is now calling on the sport sector to work with health, education, political and business stakeholders to establish a working group to take action on the implications of the report.