Football Europe shaken by coronavirus crisis

Text by: Farid Achache Follow

Although in Germany, the Bundesliga resumes behind closed doors this Saturday, the coronavirus crisis continues to undermine football in Europe. Of the 55 championships that make up UEFA, 53 have stopped due to the pandemic.

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If Belarus has never interrupted its championship, Germany resumes its own on Saturday May 16, but behind closed doors. Yet in a poll, more than one German in two is against the resumption of the Bundesliga this weekend. Astonishing thing compared to the popularity of football across the Rhine.

"  We think that a total cessation of European football is more than reasonable,  " even wrote more than 300 ultra European groups, most of them Italian, in a statement published on Wednesday May 13. “  Europe is suffering because of the coronavirus. [...] Public health has become the first and only priority for everyone. For this reason, we think that a total cessation of European football is more than reasonable  ”, we can read in this text.

Messi ready to take the " risk "

France has officially ended the 2019-2020 football season, like the Netherlands, Belgium or Scotland. Italy, England and Spain still have the hope of ending their season. FC Barcelona striker Lionel Messi said he was ready to take the "  risk  " of returning to training despite the Covid-19 epidemic, taking "  all the necessary precautions  ", less than a month from the resumption of the Spanish Championship, scheduled for June 12 without spectators.

"  I do not understand how there will be more risk of playing football matches behind closed doors, with all the precautions, than working on an assembly line or on a fishing boat on the high seas  ", a echoed Javier Tebas, the boss of La Liga.

On Thursday 14 May, Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA, deemed  the end of the season in France "  premature ". “  We have two French clubs playing the Champions League [Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille, editor's note], and now they're not going to play until August. I don't know if it's a good thing for these teams not to play and to pick up on tough and important matches like that,  "said Ceferin.

The President of Olympique Lyonnais Jean-Michel Aulas, mobilized on all fronts to challenge the premature end of the Ligue 1 season due to the coronavirus pandemic, wrote to French parliamentarians to convince them to "  back off"  "

UEFA financial assistance

UEFA announced late 236.5 million euros to its 55 member federations under the HatTrick program to help them overcome the difficulties associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Launched in 2004, this program should allow UEFA to distribute 2.6 billion euros in aid to its federations by 2024.

Each of them will receive 4.3 million euros and will be able to use them by defining "  their own priorities  " to face "  the negative impact of the coronavirus on football at all levels  ". Fifa announced in mid-March the creation of a football aid fund, but has since not given any additional details on its operation or its scope.

In England, several clubs, including Arsenal, Southampton, West Ham and Watford, have announced in recent weeks agreements with their players to lower or postpone their salaries, to preserve their finances damaged by the cessation of competitions caused by the pandemic. Most of the time the players across the Channel are paid very well.

Juventus Turin jumped on the stock market!

But not everything is negative in European football. In Italy, mid-April, the action of Juventus Turin jumped on the stock market, buoyed by discussions on a possible resumption of the Serie A championship behind closed doors. The action of the Turin club had gained 11.7% on the Milan Stock Exchange in a market also strongly oriented downward due to the health crisis caused by the coronavirus.

“  The impact would be terrible for clubs and championships. It’s better to play behind closed doors than not at all,  ”said the UEFA boss at the same time.

Juventus had been one of the first clubs to strike a deal with their players, including star Cristiano Ronaldo, to cut their wages.

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