UEFA managed to successfully wrap up the Champions League and the Europa League tournaments for the 2019/20 season but it seems like the shortened version of the competitions have come at some cost.
European Club Association chairman Andrea Agnelli confirmed has confirmed that finances have taken a massive hit due to the pandemic which is why UEFA are planning to return a large sum of money to its broadcasting partners.
Agnelli said, as quoted by Football London: “We are looking at top revenue decrease of approximately €4billion in the next two years and according to FIFA, 90 per cent of those top-line losses will be borne by clubs.
“We have seen very important rebates to the principal broadcasters both at domestic level and at the international level.
“We have seen a £330million rebate in the Premier League, we have seen a downturn in the Bundesliga domestic rights of about €200million, we are in the process of finalising the account with UEFA with a reduction of around €575million (£519m) for the international club competitions, and that is all money that is normally distributed.
“There will be a 20-30 per cent drop in operations.
“We will have to be very careful about how we manage this transition, as there is a collapse in revenues and economies. Some big clubs will suffer more significant losses than entire federations. We are halfway through a crisis and it is not over yet, we have to face it.
“As clubs, we have to restart with dialogue, the crisis is profound for everyone. The crisis affects everyone, big and small.
“The hope is that a responsible reaction on the part of all can lead us out of the crisis”.
UEFA have not announced who will suffer this monetary loss but experts believe that it will be the clubs who will have to bear a chunk of the £519million rebate.
This means the Premier League clubs are about to receive a major blow on top of their own financial troubles and all the English top division clubs which featured in the Champions League and the Europa League last season will now have to return a portion of their income to the broadcasters.
Many major clubs have suffered huge losses during the past couple of months but the extent of the damages will only be known once the annual accounts are published in a couple of weeks time.
