Berlin (AFP)
Bankruptcy Football Club: suddenly deprived of income by the interruption of competitions because of the coronavirus, many European clubs see their cash running out in the short term, a situation "untenable". And the entire ecosystem of the most popular sport in the world is threatened.
If the behemoths like Bayern Munich or FC Barcelona admit to having some reservations, the professional clubs have, in their immense majority only very little time before them.
"This is clearly untenable," said Dave Cormack, president of the Scottish Aberdeen club. "No club, whatever its size or level of investment, can withstand a total lack of income for a period that could range from 3 to 6 months."
Even the president of the all-powerful German League, organizer of the Bundesliga which generates more than 4 billion in turnover, feels the catastrophe coming: "If we do not play behind closed doors as soon as possible, it is no longer the we have to wonder if we are making a championship with 18 or 20 clubs: because we won't even have 20 professional clubs any more, "warns Christian Seifert.
"If we remain two months without playing, we can rectify the situation", tempers for its part the president of the union of the clubs of the French L1, Bernard Caïazzo. "If it's four months, but we finish our domestic and European competitions, the clubs can get away with it as long as the next season ends on time," he added.
- Partial unemployment -
No matches mean no TV rights and no box office receipts: the two main sources of income for major championships have suddenly dried up.
The sums involved are colossal everywhere. In England, if the season does not resume, Premier League clubs will have to collectively reimburse £ 762 million (EUR 815 million) to broadcasters BT Sports and SkySports.
In Italy and Germany, experts have estimated the total losses (TV rights plus ticketing) at more than 700 million euros, and up to 400 million in France, always in the event of a complete end to the season.
Hence the insistence of all Leagues to want to resume in camera as soon as possible, to at least recover the rights of broadcasters: "Our number one priority must be to play the matches that remain to play and to finish the season, even without spectators ", recognizes the marketing manager of the German club of Schalke 04 Alexander Jobst. "Media and sponsor revenues are vital to us and to all professional clubs."
Because clubs, coronavirus or not, must continue to pay salaries, their biggest expense.
In France, several have already resorted to partial unemployment (Lyon, Marseille, Monaco ...), while in the Bundesliga, players have often spontaneously offered to give up part of their wages (Mönchengladbach, Bayern, Dortmund in particular).
- System collapse -
In Barcelona, an agreement was reached between the representatives of the locker room (Sergio Busquets, Lionel Messi and Gerard Piqué) and management to reduce wages without going through a temporary unemployment plan, which would affect all employees of the club.
Nationally, LaLiga plans to cut player wages by 20% in the event of outright cancellation of the end of the season. The Italians are considering imposing similar measures.
In the English Premier League, where salaries are the highest, nothing will be done without the agreement of the players, protected by concrete contracts. And the players' union, the Professional Footballer Association (PFA), has only been open to "salary deferrals" so far.
There are not many ways to avoid a system collapse. The Italians are considering an additional tax on betting companies, and the Germans are talking about relaxing the management control rules that allow the allocation of licenses to clubs at the start of the season.
For now, it is especially the date of recovery that conditions the future of football.
If the 2019-2020 season can come to an end by the summer, the damage will be limited. If, on the other hand, you have to wait until August - or later - to replay, the European landscape could be completely upset, with new power struggles impossible to predict between ruined clubs and "surviving" clubs.
cpb-jta-pve-stt-hap / jed / clv
© 2020 AFP