Foot (post-Covid) and business, the galley.

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Pixabay / Klimkin

“Many clubs risk their existence”.

It was with these words - not at all creepy - that influential Andrea Agnelli, president of Juventus and the European Club Association (ECA), alerted the football world during a virtual general assembly on Tuesday.

According to the instance, the Covid-19 pandemic could reduce the revenues of European football clubs by around 4 billion euros, affecting the 2020-2021 financial year even more heavily than the past season.

The ECA relied on an economic impact study of the pandemic, carried out at the beginning of the summer on a “representative sample” of clubs questioned in ten European leagues, to draw such conclusions.

This sample should show a shortfall of 3.6 billion euros in two seasons (1.5 billion in 2019-2020 and 2.1 billion in 2020-2021), without taking into account the income from transfers, i.e. 2.8 billion euros of their gross operating surplus (EBITDA) accumulated over this period.

Ticket-related revenue weighs heavily on the accounts

By extrapolating to all European clubs, the ECA estimates the Covid-19 bill at four billion euros in turnover and 3.1 billion euros in Ebitda, without including the transfer market which is expected to decrease “From 20 to 30%” according to Mr. Agnelli.

Despite the gradual resumption of competitions, the melting of ticketing revenues (-14% compared to forecasts in 2019-20 for the sample, and -38.5% for the 2020-21 season which began largely behind closed doors ) weighed heavily in the face of the erosion of sponsorship and TV rights.

"Stay alive" ... French pro football facing the fear of bankruptcy https://t.co/cdaulDBuBr

- 20 Minutes (@ 20Minutes) March 26, 2020

“We have seen a reduction of 330 million pounds [365 million euros] in the Premier League, a reduction of around 200 million euros in Bundesliga domestic rights, and we are in the process of finalizing with UEFA a drop of around 575 million euros for international competitions, and it is as much money that will not be distributed, ”detailed the boss of Juve.

The project to overhaul the European cups on stand-by

The clubs' payroll should therefore weigh all the more heavily on their accounts: representing around 60% of the income of the ECA sample for three years, salaries should rise to 65.7% for 2019-20 then 70.1% for the current season.

Andrea Agnelli nevertheless warned that it would be necessary to wait until the end of the current season to make an economic assessment of the pandemic, even if the publication of the accounts of many clubs by "the end of October" should give "a first idea. ".

In this context of prolonged "crisis management", "we will have to take a break" before discussing the format of continental competitions after 2024, said the boss of Juve, a long-time supporter of an overhaul favorable to big clubs .

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