Football's Magic Money Tree

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Chester Perry
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Sep 25, 2020 1:21 am

I must say that this is a fairly obvious notion - fears about next summers multi - country European Championships - UEFA's proble is not just the spectacle and TV revenue - 8 member Associations have spent small fortunes on their hosting capability as have the countries themseleves - if it doesnt happen in the way it was sold an awful lot pf people are going to be asking for some money back - from the Telegraph

Fears grow multi-country format for European Championships will have to be scrapped
MIKE MCGRATH SEPTEMBER 24, 2020
Uefa’s member associations and sponsors fear that next year’s European Championship will change its 12-host format due to the difficulties in travel and staging matches during the Covid-19 pandemic.

England, who have been selected for the semi-finals and final, are not expected to have fans back in stadiums until March, while other countries with major leagues have partially full stadiums to prevent the coronavirus spread. Travel between countries for the 49 matches is viewed by executives as problematic, given current safety concerns nine months until the tournament.

Europe’s governing body have already pushed back the finals - the first where they have used multiple host cities - until 2021 following the impact of the pandemic on football and last season’s domestic competitions being delayed. They are set to discuss whether the pan-European tournament needs to be scaled back and the safety of supporters.

Wembley has been given seven matches but there are also games in Glasgow, Dublin, Bilbao, Munich, Amsterdam, Rome, Copenhagen, St Petersburg, Baku, Budapest and Bucharest. Key sponsors and companies directly linked to the tournament are braced for changes.

The Champions League, Uefa’s elite club competition, saw the latter stages being staged in Lisbon, Portugal, in a mini-tournament where matches were played over one leg, rather than teams travelling to face their opponents. Their Europa League tournament was hosted in Germany after the domestic season was completed.

Teams stayed and trained in a bio-secure bubble when they arrived in the host country, rather than commuting back to their team headquarters as they would normally. Matches were played behind closed doors and the finale was seen as a success given the tournament was under threat earlier in 2020.

Sources at two member associations say contingency plans have not been discussed at executive level but there is an expectation that the format of the tournament will be looked at, given the numbers of Covid-19 cases across Europe.

The final four countries playing in the tournament is yet to finalised, with play-offs staged next month to determine who will join the other 20 countries.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:44 pm

The impacts of covid restrictions are starting to bite at clubs at all levels the first of a couple of stories in the Mail

Scouts sacked! Coronavirus forces top clubs across the country - including Arsenal and Everton - to lay off talent-spotters as they look to cut costs amid financial troubles
- Coronavirus crisis is causing financial struggle for most clubs across the country
- Many, including Arsenal and Everton, have been forced to lay off scouting staff
- Scouts are being denied access to youth level matches due to safety concerns
By IAN LADYMAN FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 22:30, 24 September 2020 | UPDATED: 22:30, 24 September 2020

The coronavirus crisis is threatening to decimate English football's vast scouting industry.

Clubs across the country — including Arsenal and Everton — are laying off scouts who are being locked out of games.

Traditionally the network of hundreds of talent-spotters who are employed to unearth the next generation of top players ply their trade at reserve and Under 23 matches as well as attending big games in the top division.

But biosecurity guidelines brought in to keep stadiums and training grounds free of Covid-19 mean many scouts and indeed agents are finding themselves unable to get in.

Some clubs are saving money by scrapping regular payments to freelancers, while others are making staff roles redundant and not renewing contracts. Instead, some are asking their in-house analysts — usually employed purely to analyse forthcoming opposition — to run the rule over players via video tape.

Before the pandemic, scouts could attend first-team games at any level simply by contacting the home club and asking for a ticket. Now, guidelines say that only six are allowed — one each from the next three opponents due to face the two clubs playing in any particular match. But it is further down the food chain where the problem is being most keenly felt.

For example, a big Under 23 — or Premier League 2 — game such as Friday's Manchester United v Liverpool contest or next weekend's clash between Chelsea and Arsenal would attract as many as two dozen scouts. Now most scouts, if not all, are being refused access.

The problem is not helped by the fact many PL2 games are being played at training grounds rather than satellite stadiums. Covid-19 measures are particularly stringent at training grounds given the possible proximity of visitors to first-team players and staff.

It was revealed last month that Arsenal had released Stewart Houston, Pat Rice, Brian McDermott and their heads of UK and international scouting as part of their coronavirus cost-cutting scheme.

Meanwhile, it is understood that Everton have not renewed the short-term contracts of a number of scouts that ran out at the end of last season.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:48 pm

It was inevitable and it appears that sense is entering the EFL as Covid clauses in new contracts helps clubs adjust to realities much better - from the Mail

EFL stars face 50 PER CENT pay cut if fans are not allowed back into stadiums this season after many clubs put Covid clauses in players' contracts to protect themselves financially
- Many EFL clubs put Covid clauses in players contracts ahead of this season
- A large number of players will lose half their wages if they play in front of no fans
- The clause also says that they are not entitled to wages lost during this period
By SAMI MOKBEL FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 22:30, 24 September 2020 | UPDATED: 11:25, 25 September 2020

Football League players will lose half their wages if fans are not allowed into stadiums this season, Sportsmail can reveal.

Many EFL clubs put Covid clauses in players' contracts ahead of this season to protect themselves financially against the impact of the pandemic.

And in a document seen by this newspaper, a large number of players are contractually obliged to forgo half their wages while they are playing in front of empty stands.

Some EFL players will also lose 50 per cent of their wages if the season is curtailed, from the point any decision to end the campaign is made.

If fans are allowed back in reduced numbers, some clubs will enforce 25 per cent wage reductions for the period games are played in front of crowds of less than 75 per cent of the average attendance for the three months of competitive matches before restrictions came in.

The document also states that players are not entitled to the wages they have lost once football returns to normal.

Not all clubs in the EFL have introduced the clauses and the percentage cuts vary.

Some clubs have provided players with a window from the start of the season when they can recoup their wages in full, despite playing in empty stadiums — but that period is close to elapsing. The Government's move this week to scrap plans for fans to return from next month means players face going the vast majority of the season with drastic wage reductions.

The EFL, it is understood, want to be included in any financial aid made available by the Government, to help their clubs dealing with the renewed restrictions imposed this week.

The player contracts state, however, that any Government help would not impact wages according to the conditions.

The Professional Footballers' Association have advised members that reduction clauses are not obligatory — but indicated it may be in their long-term interest to accept cuts.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:53 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Fri Sep 25, 2020 1:00 am
@SwissRamble reveals that Juventus have had to restate their losses to a higher figure of €90 million

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 3739043846
and today @SwissRamble gives us a full analysis of those Juventus accounts

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 1076454400

you can see why Andrea Agnelli is so bent on securing that long term Champions League guarantee in the work he is doing at the ECA

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Sep 25, 2020 1:05 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 10:39 am
Today is a big day for non-league football - The National League and National Leagues North and South will decide whether to start the season as intended on 3ed of October behind closed doors - the decision is in balance given most clubs have many full time staff. Of course they are classed as elite football by the government (and there fore subject to the no-fans rule) because a number of clubs campaigned vigorously for that status so they could finish last season and have the opportunity to be promoted - those that didn't want that burden are now be forced to suffer again as a result
Statement from National League North clubs released prior to yesterdays meeting of the National League Board

https://nonleaguedaily.com/national-lea ... f-meeting/

Chester Perry
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Sep 25, 2020 1:10 pm

A useful reference tool - LawInSport.com release their 2019/20 yearbook

https://www.lawinsport.com/topics/item/ ... -145208608

Royboyclaret
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Fri Sep 25, 2020 1:28 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:53 pm
and today @SwissRamble gives us a full analysis of those Juventus accounts

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 1076454400

you can see why Andrea Agnelli is so bent on securing that long term Champions League guarantee in the work he is doing at the ECA
Some startling numbers there in the Juventus accounts.

Makes some of our PL clubs appear positively healthy.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Sep 25, 2020 2:08 pm

No matter what the size of club if they survive the covid crisis - at some point it will be the fans that will have played a key part in that survival - SportsBusiness looks at how fans in Holland have been central to the survival of football as a business there

The business of Dutch football has fans to thank for its survival
Callum McCarthy, Europe office - September 25, 2020

- Dutch fans bought season tickets in their hundreds of thousands, despite Covid uncertainty
- Many fans refused the option to receive a refund, should season be cancelled
- Clubs such as Heerenveen are reaping rewards for developing a strong bond with supporters

SC Heerenveen is an Eredivisie club situated in Friesland, a rural region in the north of the Netherlands. The town of Heerenveen itself is small, with a population of about 50,000 if you include the villages and farms in its immediate vicinity, but humble surroundings haven’t prevented success.

The club was a mainstay in the old Uefa Cup in the 2000s and reached the Champions League group stage in 2000-01. In short, SC Heerenveen has punched well above its weight since it became the first Frisian team to reach the Eredivisie in 1990.

To stay solvent while remaining competitive in the top flight, the club relies on loyal support from its local area to fill the 27,000-capacity Abe Lenstra Stadion. Matchday revenue is consistently Heerenveen’s second-biggest revenue stream after player sales and is crucial to the club’s survival – a common reality in the Eredivisie.

Covid-19 and the prospect of matches played behind closed doors represented an immediate existential threat to Eredivisie clubs, big and small. The most extreme example of this is Ajax Amsterdam, which earns around 1000 per cent more from matchday income (€120m in 2017-18) each season than it does from its share of the domestic broadcast rights revenue (about €11m in 2019-20).

Heerenveen operates on a much smaller scale. It received domestic broadcast rights payments amounting to about €4m in 2019-20, while ticket sales usually generate a total of between €5m and €6m each season, not including other matchday income derived from concessions and merchandise.

Ajax and Heerenveen are worlds apart in terms of revenue, but they share a reality in which a whole season played without matchday income would have left both clubs close to the brink. From club chief executives to fans, everyone involved in Dutch football knew that the Covid-19 crisis could sound a death knell for clubs around the country.

But thanks to incredible displays of loyalty from fans across the Eredivisie, clubs have been kept afloat by revenue generated from the sale of season tickets in the hundreds of thousands, despite many fans receiving no guarantee of seeing a single match this season or, in many cases, receiving a single euro back in compensation if they don’t.

Dutch clubs are currently permitted to allow a maximum of 25 per cent attendance, meaning that most season-ticket holders will be unable to watch even half of the home matches played this season.

However, the prospect of attending football matches, the drive to support their clubs through tough times and a competitive urge among fans to out-buy their rivals saw season tickets bought in incredible numbers. Most clubs ceased season ticket sales before demand had dried up, fearing that they would under-deliver to those who had bought them.

Ajax halted sales at 41,000 season tickets, while Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven stopped at 27,000 and 26,000 respectively. Heerenveen, which usually limits season ticket sales at just over 10,000, stopped at 8,600 to ensure those that had purchased would receive at least some value for money.

Hitting the streets
While Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV could rely on large fanbases in richer metropolitan areas to invest money in a season ticket, smaller clubs in rural areas such as Heerenveen had to sell harder than most.

Martin Koopman, commercial director at SC Heerenveen, tells SportBusiness that the success of the club’s summer season ticket drive was built on 18 months of work to bring the club closer to its community.

“Over the last 18 months we’ve put an unbelievable amount of effort to get in touch again with our fans – not just on the commercial side but the whole crew, starting on the pitch with our head coach. Unfortunately, over the previous 10 years, something was lost between Heerenveen and the fans. But in general, we’ve taken that back. We’ve become very close to the people again and are very open with them.”

This made it easier to conduct a door-to-door campaign in the town and its surrounding villages when Covid-19 struck, asking fans for their support during tough times.

“We went to the villages around us, knocked on doors and rang doorbells in the evenings,” Koopman says. “We wanted to thank them, first of all, for having a season ticket with us, and then ask them if they would consider coming again this season. We rang doorbells, called people, on and on. Heerenveen is in the heart of the people here, you know they want to be part of it.”

The face-to-face nature of these conversations with fans led to an additional show of loyalty – 80 per cent of all renewals were for a package in which fans forewent their right to a refund, effectively guaranteeing that money to the club regardless of whether spectator trials were successful.

For Koopman and Heerenveen, this commitment was essential to provide security not just for this season but for 2021-22 as well. Most Eredivisie clubs have promised fans some form of refund for matches they are unable to attend due to the capacity restrictions in place. This banks on restrictions being loosened over the course of the 2020-21 season and eventually leading to full Eredivisie stadiums.

Koopman was wary of taking that chance and wanted to ensure the club wasn’t caught out by a change in the wind.

“I think a couple of clubs have taken a huge financial risk by allowing fans to buy season tickets on condition they receive money back next year – or even this season – for each match they could not attend,” he says.

“They are shifting numbers in their balance sheet. They have the money now, but if the situation hasn’t improved by next year, they will have to pay it back and will have no income. That’s a huge risk to take and we didn’t go that way. We told our fans we were not financially able to do that.”

Hanging in the balance
The Dutch Eredivisie season began on September 12 and there have been two matchdays of spectator trials, the second of which has caused huge concern among Dutch clubs and politicians alike.

Fans are meant to remain 1.5 metres apart at all times unless they are from the same household or under the age of 18. They are to remain seated, not take up positions in standing sections, and they are not permitted to sing or cheer while attending matches for fear of spreading the virus further than the 1.5 metre distance mandated by government and the KNVB, the Dutch football’s governing body.

At Feyenoord’s home match against FC Twente, a significant portion of the 13,000 fans attending the match flouted those rules, choosing to stand and sing together. Covid-19 cases are rising daily in the Netherlands and clubs fear that incidents such as this will put matches back behind closed doors, crushing the optimism that inspired fans to invest in season tickets.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte gave an emotionally-charged statement about singing, cheering and standing at matches following last weekend’s fixtures: “You just can’t do it. It’s very stupid. We won’t get the virus under control. The numbers have gone up again today, you know? Just shut your mouth when you’re sitting there watching the game and don’t yell.”

Koopman sympathises with both sides of the argument and admits that clubs could be powerless to stop it from occurring: “Sport is emotion. Once the game starts, people get excited. That’s the way it should be. By the end of a match, if it looks like the team is going to win, people start singing. What can we do as a club, a business, an organisation to keep to the rules? The only thing we can is with the stadium speaker and ask people again and again, repeatedly, not to do it. Be quiet. Just sit.”

He continued: “Our Prime Minister said yesterday, directly, ‘just shut up’. He said fans just have to sit down and shut up and that it’s not more difficult than that. He knows, of course, that the reality is different.”

Unlike in England, Covid-19 is being dealt with on a regional basis in the Netherlands. If the actions of Feyenoord fans resulted in a spike of Covid-19 cases in the local area, it is more likely that local authorities would take action and close that particular stadium, rather than the nationally-mandated closure of stadiums seen in England.

Koopman believes that on this occasion, the quieter nature of Heerenveen fans will stand the club in good stead: “We are a little easier to control and a little quieter, like most small or medium-sized clubs. But what happened last weekend in certain stadiums, they were standing, screaming, singing. If that happens, we start to lose complete control.”

Facing reality
Should Covid-19 return with a vengeance in the Netherlands, it is likely that Eredivisie clubs will be forced either to play in empty stadiums or there will be a complete suspension of the season to further protect clubs from economic damage.

The biggest fear among Eredivisie clubs is that the current restrictions will last into the 2021-22 season, leaving Dutch football reliant on a second outpouring of support from fans. But even the prospect of playing in quarter-full, third-full or half-full stadiums for the remainder of 2020-21 is giving clubs huge cause for concern.

“If we can’t go back to full stadiums, it’s going to be a big challenge for everyone, whether it’s Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV or Heerenveen,” Koopman says. “If we look at ourselves, we are doing well financially at the moment, but it’s almost certainly going to be a minus at the end of the year.

He continued: “But even a club like Ajax…if they have to go the whole season and some of next season without an audience, or at 25 per cent, the whole football sector will face a huge challenge to survive this. The chief executive of Ajax says he is losing €400,000 to €500,000 every match, just from a lack of one-off ticket purchases.”

Despite the great difficulties facing Dutch clubs, they are undoubtedly better off when compared to lower league clubs in England, which face up to six months of matches behind closed doors.

Last season’s Eredivisie was declared null and void when Covid-19 struck in March, protecting clubs from the financial toll of matches played behind closed doors. But in 2020-21, there is a very real worry that Dutch spectator trials will scale down rather than up over the course of the season.

Koopman concluded: “It’s the reality of the world right now. We have to face that as a club and survive this in whatever way we can. That starts with giving back to our fans and having as many people as possible attend. If we can scale up – if the guidance says we can do that – we will do that.”

“Every game is costing us a lot of money. Can we have that financially? No. Obviously, no. That’s why we’re all looking forward to a better situation, why we’re being strict on the rulings and the protocols put in place by government.”

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Sep 25, 2020 2:12 pm

The Vultures are at the door

The ongoing saga of the Serie A taking onboard Private Equity/Venture Capital is moving into the final stages of the choosing a partner stage - from SportsBusiness.com

Serie A ‘sets September 30 deadline’ for private equity bids
SportBusiness Staff - September 25, 2020

Lega Serie A, the organising body of the top tier of Italian club football, has set a deadline of September 30 for private equity bids to be submitted for a stake in its new media-rights business, it is reported.

Clubs in Serie A earlier this month unanimously approved the formation of the new entity, which is designed to market the broadcast rights to the league. It is hoped the new venture will boost the value of Serie A’s international media rights.

Firms interested in buying a stake in the business have been given until the end of the month to place their final offers, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

It is also thought that Serie A officials will meet as early as October 6 to discuss the offers and select their preferred bidder.

Earlier this week, it was reported by Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore that Spanish media giant Mediapro was in “advanced negotiations” with private equity firms Bain Capital and NB Renaissance Partners to join their bid for a stake in the new venture.

The bid from Bain Capital and NB Renaissance Partners is reported to be worth €1.35bn ($1.57bn).

A rival proposal from a consortium consisting of CVC Capital Partners, Advent and Italy’s state-backed investor Fondo Strategico Italiano (FSI) is valued at a reported €1.63bn. The two consortia are seeking a 10-per-cent stake in the new venture.

A third proposal involving US investment firm Fortress, Apax and Three Hills Capital Partners that consisted of equity and debt, with little governance control, was previously said to be on the table before clubs elected to focus on the two media newco bids.

Mediapro’s involvement in Bain’s bid would appear to be a significant boost to the proposal given the company’s experience in the sports media-rights sector. Mediapro last year bid to create a Serie A channel in a joint venture project with the league and the company recently appointed Federico de Mojana from Eleven Sports to head up development at its Italian arm.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Sep 25, 2020 2:23 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:54 am
Remember this - FIFA have today enacted their revenge, suspending the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association - and their reasoning - under FIFA law's you cannot take FIFA to court if you are member association. Is this why they have just published that 1000 page Legal handbook

https://www.fifa.com/who-we-are/news/fi ... ssociation
@PhillipeAuclair who reported on the issues that the Trinidad and Tobabgo were experiencing with FIFA last year has this to say on this latest move from FIFA

https://twitter.com/PhilippeAuclair/sta ... 9327073281

FIFA's action has provoked this open letter by former High Commissioner to Jamaica and head of T&T's women's football on the suspension of her country's FA by Fifa. - "Good leaders do not wield power just because they have power" from Wired686.com

Dr Gloudon: Fifa, I can’t breathe; Infantino take your knee off my neck!
Letters to the Editor Thursday 24 September 2020

“[…] What I want to say to [Fifa president Gianni Infantino] is that you represent the worst of what sport has become.

“A mighty conglomerate which is focused on making money; wielding power; and imposing your superiority and power on the athletes and fans who have now become mere pawns and no longer the central players in sport…”

The following Letter to the Editor on Fifa’s decision to suspend the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) from the international game was submitted to Wired868 by Reverend Dr Iva Gloudon—a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago and former international athlete, sport administrator, university director of sport and former ambassador to Jamaica:

I have been in sport all of my life; from elementary school to high school to club sport, to university, as a national field hockey team member, a director of sport at the university level, an academic in sport, as the president of Women’s Football and as the president of Women’s Field Hockey in Trinidad and Tobago.

Mr Gianni Infantino, sport has been my life and much of what I have achieved has been through sport. These days, however, I am mostly focused on being a ‘woman of the cloth’ and became a Reverend in 2012. I say this as I am praying that I can be reverential in what I am about to say to the mighty Fifa.

HOW DARE YOU!

I am not even going to attempt to justify who is right and who is wrong, as I do not believe that is the issue. I am not going to even attempt to address the issue of corruption, as this would only lead me to conclude that not many have surpassed Fifa in this regard.

What I want to say to you is that you represent the worst of what sport has become. A mighty conglomerate which is focused on making money; wielding power; and imposing your superiority and power on the athletes and fans who have now become mere pawns and no longer the central players in sport.

Do you even understand the pride that a country of 1.3 million people takes in their sporting accomplishments? Do you understand the pride we have when we are able to conquer the larger countries in the world to win gold, silver and bronze medals at the Olympics or make it to the finals of the World Cup?

Do you even understand how many of us only have the pathway of sport to lift us up out of poverty and hardship?

You are trying to convince me that the only management solution that you are competent at is throwing our duly elected football executives aside, defying our local courts and sitting around your table with six other men (yes, no women) in the hallowed hallways of Fifa and throwing an entire country, yes country, under the proverbial bus?

YOUR HIGHHANDEDNESS IS MESMERIZING!

We might be a small nation, but we are a very proud people. What about all of the other paradigms that exist which allows for a less confrontational solution? One in which all parties are taken into consideration and all parties can benefit.

Good leaders do not wield power just because they have power. Good leaders do not demand that their subjects bow to their every whim and fancy.

Good leaders do not demand that we go to a court that we cannot afford and which is certainly prejudiced towards us smaller nations.

So, the mighty Fifa is bigger than prime ministers, presidents, ministers of sport, athletes and, I daresay, God? Your laws, articles and clauses can be executed and applied in all situations without regard for human beings and the diversity of peoples?

Shame on you Mr Infantino!

I CANNOT BREATHE!

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Sep 25, 2020 2:31 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 9:24 am
this is quite significant when you apply it to the European equivalent - The Asian Champions League has expelled the defending Champions for fielding a team of just 9 players as Covid ravaged their team - from Sports Business - Imagine Andreas Angelli if it were Juventus

AFC Champions League holders expelled after Covid-19 outbreak
Tom King, Asia Office - September 24, 2020

Reigning champions Al Hilal have been removed from the AFC Champions League after naming a line-up with only nine outfield players due to a Covid-19 outbreak.

The Saudi Arabian side failed to name the required 13 players for their AFC Champions League (West) Group B match against Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, of the United Arab Emirates.

Under Article 4.3 of the special rules applicable to AFC Competitions during the Covid-19 pandemic, the team was deemed to have withdrawn from the competition, the AFC said in a press release.

A Covid-19 outbreak affecting 15 Al Hilal players meant the team had only eight virus-free outfield players for Wednesday’s match against Shabab Al Ahli Dubai. Al Hilal named two goalkeepers on the bench but could not fulfil the minimum squad requirement of 13 players.

The ruling means all matches played by Al Hilal are considered null and void and therefore Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan and Shabab Al Ahli Dubai have progressed to the Round of 16 from Group B.

Al Hilal and the Saudi Arabian federation requested a postponement of the match against Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, but the AFC rejected it, deciding that it would have negatively impacted the match schedule of the AFC Champions League (West).

Earlier this month, Abu Dhabi-based club Al Wahda withdrew from the competition due to positive Covid-19 tests, which prevented the squad travelling to Qatar.
UEFA have plans to ensure that this doesn't happen in the Champions League - suspect that is more to do with TV deals than problems with the individual clubs - Though if English clubs are involved it may impact the FA Cup

https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbre ... ce=Twitter

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:58 pm

@TariqPanja in the New York Times with a piece at how clubs and Leagues are readying themselves for a stand-off with the regional and global governing bodies as the international break looms during a sharp global rise in infections and home governments insisting on quarantine for those who have been on international travel. Naturally there are other issues in the background too, particularly the future of the global calendar (as I posted the other day)

Soccer Battle Looming Over National Team Games
TARIQ PANJA SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Up until now, soccer’s conflicting interests have largely converged, displaying a collective spirit to overcome the debilitating effects of a global pandemic.

But the mood is threatening to turn sour, with clubs and leagues holding urgent meetings to devise a common position before a showdown with FIFA, the game’s global governing body, over the release of players for national team games in October.

With many countries enduring a second wave of infections, concerns over releasing players for cross-continental travel has become heightened, with some clubs now considering the possibility of refusing to release their athletes during a window set aside for national team games, including some qualification games for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Failure to release players would set the scene for a major showdown between soccer’s global and regional governing bodies and the teams that pay the players’ salaries. Such a confrontation could raise the stakes of what has already been a bitter years long battle between clubs and FIFA over the international match calendar and the mandatory release of players for national team action. Major League Soccer, the top U.S. soccer league, on Friday became the first group to block the release of some of its players for international duty.

An alliance of leagues, Europe’s top club association and the world’s players union FIFPro held an urgent meeting with FIFA on Wednesday to discuss the issue of the next two international rounds of games, in October and November. The meeting ended without agreement. FIFA is expected to release its guidelines for player release soon.

The group presented FIFA with a document outlining the minimum requirements they felt would be needed for the release of players. The biggest concerns are over the South American round of World Cup qualifiers, which remain scheduled as planned even though a North American round of games has been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. There are also rounds of exhibition games slated that could require some Europe-based players to take multiple flights to play in Africa.

The virus is still having an effect on the soccer industry, with several domestic competitions being disrupted at the start of the new season. France’s top league, for instance, had to postpone some opening round games as cases spread through leading teams, while this week a cup game between Premier League team Tottenham and Leyton Orient, which plays in the fourth tier, became the first major English game to be canceled after a number of Orient players tested positive.

Elsewhere, Saudi Arabian team Al Hilal, holders of the Asia’s Champions League, was ejected from this season’s edition of the competition after being unable to field a sufficient number of players in a group game following a coronavirus outbreak within its squad. On Thursday, Brazil’s top club team, Flamengo, announced 16 players tested positive, putting in doubt its next league games.

The clubs insist their concerns are about player welfare, but they are also about finances. Teams, already struggling with the multibillion-dollar financial consequences of the pandemic, are concerned that they will be on the hook for thousands of dollars of salaries to players who could be forced to quarantine upon return from exotic locales because of national requirements, or because they contracted the virus while on international duty.

“An urgent review of liability questions around player infection, short and long-term health impairments and protection/compensation of/for wages, medical cost or loss of future income, is required,” said the document sent to FIFA this week, which was reviewed by The New York Times.

Finances are also in large part what is driving the national teams to push ahead with their schedules. For most of the biggest federations, including those in Brazil and Argentina whose rosters are filled mostly with European-based talent, broadcast income from national team games makes up the largest component of their annual income.

For FIFA, the competing interests create tension at an awkward moment. The organization, under president Gianni Infantino, has spent much of the past two years trying to build closer relationships with top teams with a view to getting them involved in new club competitions FIFA has been looking to devise. At the same time, FIFA’s core constituency is its 211 member associations, which run national team soccer.

Leagues and clubs are also using Infantino’s own words to remind him of his responsibilities. Since the start of the outbreak earlier this year, the FIFA president has repeatedly said any decisions would be guided by the principle: “health comes first.”

To that end, they have sent FIFA a list of minimum requirements. They include a demand that clubs and players should not be sanctioned if they ignore call-ups for exhibition games, and that players not be obliged to travel for games that could require them to quarantine for several days.

“Stakeholders remain concerned that even such a relief of the restrictions does not substantiate that conditions in a country are per-se safer and thus a player should still not fear for sanctions should he/she decide not to answer the call-up over fears of personal safety,” said the document sent to FIFA.

Under current rules, FIFA can ban clubs from fielding players who are not released for international action for five days, and can also open disciplinary proceedings that could yield further punishment.

While most of the concerns center on players at European clubs, there are concerns further afield, too.

Major League Soccer in the United States, for example, could see the end of its regular season decimated. A dozen teams face losing crucial players for longer than is typical because the league requires athletes returning from international travel to quarantine for 10 days upon arrival in the United States.

On Friday, M.L.S. wrote to the Paraguay federation saying it would not sanction the release of New York Red Bulls attacker Alejandro Gamarra. In the letter, which was reviewed by The Times, the league cited health concerns should Gamarra travel to South America for Paraguay’s forthcoming games with Peru and Venezuela. It also said he would miss additional games upon his return to the United States. Also on Friday, M.L.S. wrote to Peru’s national federation, according to local reports, saying it would not release players for its national team games. Peru included seven U.S.-based players in its preliminary roster.

The South American confederation known as Conmebol has so far remained defiant in the face of requests to move its games. Its qualification program is one of the longest in soccer, with each team playing a minimum of 18 games in order to reach the World Cup. With little room in the international calendar, which has already been upended by the coronavirus, there is no time to reschedule games, and the Conmebol president, Alejandro Dominguez, has shown little appetite to make any changes to the format.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sat Sep 26, 2020 12:18 am

The perils of Furloughing players to help save the club - AFC Fylde issue a statement expressing anger at National League as they are unable to appeal case involving player payments during Coronavirus crisis.

The Ryan Croasdale Story – The Unacceptable Face of Football.

On Tuesday of this week, the FA terminated the playing contract of Ryan Croasdale with AFC Fylde. He has left the club following an appeal panel ruling in his favour, therefore making him a free agent.

How this has all transpired is a story that all fans, not only those at Fylde, deserve to hear.

It all started back in April when the full impact of Covid became apparent and the season was cancelled. An emergency meeting was held between the Chief Executive, Jonty Castle, the Manager Jim Bentley and owner David Haythornthwaite. Discussions took place on what we should do with regard to the situation and in particular players wages. It was clear that if players weren’t paid that despite the seriousness of the situation, they could, when the time was right for them use this to force a move away.

As this would involve our better players, and those we wanted to protect, the owner believed we should do all we could to “protect” those players by paying them in full even if that was to the detriment of others. The Chief Exec and Manager argued strongly against this and said that after consultation with the players ”they were all in it together” and would accept a “package“ that equated to 80% of their wages. This would be made up through a combination of the Government furlough money plus a further top up from the club.

In Croasdale’s case he was on £950 a week so 80% was £760 a week. The government scheme allowed us to claim back a maximum of £576.92 so the balance of £183.08 would be topped up by the club. This formula was to be used for all the players. After much discussion, this approach was agreed, the players were informed and the appropriate paperwork drawn up and sent to each player. Every single player bar Croasdale eventually signed up to the “new contract”.

Croasdale refused to on the grounds that it would cause his family “severe hardship”.

As has been well documented previously, the players were not required to train or come to the ground. They were totally free to do what they liked, including finding part time or full time work to top up their earnings, if they needed, or wanted to. In fact, the Chairman offed all the players and other employees the chance to work in his business on a packing line at £10.00 per hour and up to 40 hours a week on a day or night shift.

Croasdale turned this offer down, at which time it was then clear for all and sunder to see his intentions and that he would use this at some time, aided and abetted by his agent, to engineer a move away from the club.

Having set out our stall and got the agreement from 16 out of 17 contracted players we obviously couldn’t make exceptions and although he refused to sign the paperwork, we put him on the government job retention scheme where he still received £576.92 a week for the remainder of the summer.

At the start of August we informed the players that pre-season would begin on 24th and they would return to full pay. At this point, Croasdale was forced to show his hand and on 7th August he put in a grievance to the league regarding “not being paid in full”. As soon as pre-season began, he came up with a number of reasons not to participate in full training. The reason being of course, was that he was negotiating with other clubs and didn’t want to risk getting injured. The procedure, is that the initial grievance goes to the National League and after that, if either party is unhappy with the result they can appeal to the FA.

We were extremely confident in our case, everything was well documented and the paper trail clear, but despite all this, our own League failed to support us and held in favour of the player. We were gobsmacked. How, in these uncertain times, when a players intentions were clear could they do this to one of its own members. The least they should have, and could have done was to support us and let the player appeal to the FA. They chose not to.

Incidentally, the reasons given in his grievance and we quote verbatim were

‘The loss of earnings which have accumulated throughout this period have caused severe financial hardship upon my family, this is due to me being the only financial provider in my household. In result I have had to borrow money from family in order to cover my mortgage and monthly outgoings.’

We therefore went to appeal the decision ourselves and were told that due to certain procedural irregularities we couldn’t. Again, our own League fought tooth and nail to try and deny us this appeal. Eventually, we succeeded but their earlier decision was ratified and as of Thursday this week Ryan’s contract was terminated by the FA and he is now free to ply his trade anywhere he chooses. The lucky club who picks him up will do so for free. Fylde fans will remember, we paid Kidderminster Harriers £50,000 for him in 2018.

As the title of the article states, this is “The Unacceptable Face of Football”

We lead you to draw your own conclusions.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sat Sep 26, 2020 12:08 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:14 am
apparently Man City get the planning permission for their Indoor Arena - like it was ever in doubt - Abu Dhabi own so much in Manchester now and this will undermine the Council owned MEN Arena

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... a-18990579
Well that did not take long - the new Arena at the Ethiad has a naming rights deal - and it is a local company too - it will be called Co-op Live for at lest 15 years

https://twitter.com/Lu_Class_/status/13 ... 3755320321

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sat Sep 26, 2020 3:33 pm

Sam Wallace in the Telegraph is sceptical (or is that scathing at the thought) of the new wave of American "Investors"

Covid era is not threatening American investors' interest in Premier League clubs - but what do they think they are buying?
If Burnley were to fall into hands of US investors, it would make club fifth in the Premier League owned outright by American money

SAM WALLACE - CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER
26 September 2020 • 1:35pm
Sam Wallace

European football: the place where many American investors have come to lose lots of their money, or indeed lots of other people’s money, although that eagerness to pursue the dream of ownership and a profit too, seems to live on regardless.

Burnley are about to fall into the hands, it seems, of ALK Capital, another one of those deathless names from the US sports investment scene which has lurked around the margins of other available clubs, like Sheffield United, before now. In the Covid era many more clubs are in play, including Southampton, West Ham and others, with the old dilemma on one side of the viability of any potential owner, and on the other the question of valuation.

Were Burnley to fall into the hands of US investors it would make the Lancashire club the fifth in the Premier League owned outright by American money and the ninth to have Americans as part of their ownership group. In the Football League there are a further eight, and of course the prospect of the Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds funding the acquisition of National League Wrexham was too intriguing to ignore even in a week when that league’s very existence has been in the balance.

It begs the eternal questions: what do they think they are buying? And also, are they aware of the concept of relegation? The American interest has been driven, as far as the clubs can see, by a Covid-driven collapse of many of the sectors in which these funds would ordinarily invest. The hospitality industry, for instance, is in crisis so football clubs became an alternative in which US investors see a strong chance of rebounding quickly. But to where?

At Southampton, where Chinese owner Gao Jisheng wants to sell after an impecunious and forgettable ownership, the problem is obvious for a well-run club with a tight-knit management team. They want a good owner who will invest wisely and allow the club to play to its strengths. The most voluble candidate connected to Saints has been a US investor, Joseph DaGrosa, favourably profiled by some American media. His interest in Saints, which has never been denied, is largely allied to remarks he made about buying a club with a strong academy tradition.

Like ALK Capital, DaGrosa has sniffed around available clubs in the past. He claimed to be interested in buying Newcastle United and gave interviews on the subject. He was briefly in control of Bordeaux in Ligue 1 who could scarcely be said to have flourished under his ownership. He has said he wishes to buy a group of clubs and modestly hinted he could do it better than Manchester City’s owners. As for where the funds will come from, there is less clarity. There has been no contact by him or associates with Southampton’s executive team, although what overtures have been made to Gao is not known. A request from the Telegraph to DaGrosa’s Florida office for a discussion on such matters did not get a response.

At Burnley, the suggestion is that the existing ownership group, primarily chairman Mike Garlick would continue to run the club on behalf of new owners. At Saints, Katharina Liebherr, whose family still own 20 per cent, has a veto on any new ownership. Beyond that even the current executive team, including manager Ralph Hasenhuttl, could refuse to work with a prospective new owner before they went through Premier League vetting. That would create a formidable obstacle to any takeover.

The US investment sector now even has the former Premier League chief executive, latterly executive chairman, Richard Scudamore amongst its advisors. He works on behalf of RedBall, one of many US special purpose advisory companies (SPACs) set up to raise funds for investment.

The dream of American ownership is Liverpool where Fenway Sports have transformed the fortunes and finances of the club. At Manchester United and Arsenal where the Glazer and Kroenke families are reviled by fans the view in the US remains nevertheless that they have seized control of valuable assets.

In the Championship, Paul Conway is the American co-chairman of Barnsley, bought by his Pacific Media Group consortium in 2017. Conway is scathing about governance in English football and the Football League in particular, claiming that stronger regulatory bodies would attract more investment from the US. Conway’s consortium also own FC Thun in Switzerland, Ostende in Belgium and previously Nice in Ligue One. “In France the governance is much stronger and the rules are much clearer,” Conway tells the Telegraph, “England is the wild west. How can clubs get away with not paying players or going into administration and yet not get relegated?”

Conway is sceptical about the valuations attached to clubs. “They don’t make any sense,” he says. Taking the example of Southampton where Gao’s 80 per cent stake is valued at around £200 million he says that “for lower half [of the Premier League] teams they are a bad run of games from relegation and then you are looking at valuations of £40 million to £50 million.”

The attraction in buying clubs with low valuations relative to revenue is obvious for US investors, Conway says, coming from a country where a NFL franchises can be worth $2 billion and a NBA franchise $1.5 billion. “MLS franchises are losing a ton of money in the pandemic and yet still $250 million to $350 million valuation”.

The value of US franchises is protected, of course, by the absence of relegation. But Conway has another warning for prospective US investors, “There’s so many ways in European football to lose money,” he says. “If you are not on the ground you will lose money. That’s not the case in American sports where it’s so corporate and owners or investors don’t have to be at the club every day.”

American sport, where administrators can even force undesirable owners to sell in order to protect the overall value of the league – as was the case with the NBA’s LA Clippers in 2014 - is a different beast. The salutary story of Ellis Short at Sunderland and the dire days of Liverpool under Tom Hicks and George Gillett loom large. But the question is asked on the other side too, as clubs wonder just exactly who controls the money and whose best interests they have at heart.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Sep 27, 2020 2:35 am

Nick Harris (better known on this thread as @SportingIntel) believed he knows the final payments for last season in the Premier League in 2019/20 - I must say it looks an awful lot like the example scenario in the Premier League handbook I posted a couple of weeks back - posting a link as it contains a breakdown table

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... -250m.html

It does contain some useful information re the equal commercial income which appears to have risen by just over £1.2m since the last cycle

from our perspective it still keeps the £124m or so I have previously mentioned

the breakdown in income is actually clearer in this tweet from Harris

https://twitter.com/sportingintel/statu ... 3689422848
Last edited by Chester Perry on Sun Sep 27, 2020 3:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Sep 27, 2020 2:44 am

Meanwhile proud Stockport County fan Oliver Holt argues why the Premier League should support the pyramid and ropes in @AndyhHolt to support his cause, using much of what he has tweeted in the last week (if you can sift it out from the constant abuse from Tranmere fans) in his latest column for the Mail

OLIVER HOLT: If they don't stop small clubs dying, the Premier League will wither too – teams in the lower leagues are integral to the health of English football and their death will spread upwards like disease
- Clubs in the lower leagues are integral to the health of football in this country
- Lower league clubs are facing uncertain fates after the coronavirus outbreak
- Premier League owners might like to think the top division is an island, it is not
- Top-flight clubs' strength, their appeal, depends on the rest of the pyramid
- Should we not stop smaller clubs' death, then it'll spread upwards like a disease
By OLIVER HOLT FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 22:30, 26 September 2020 | UPDATED: 22:30, 26 September 2020

Why should they help? In this version of Britain, polarised and angry and fearful, why should the Premier League help anybody?

Why should the big clubs help the little clubs in their moment of greatest need? Why should the rich help the poor? Why should they do anything apart from sit back and watch them die and crow about the survival of the fittest?

Why should clubs earning £100million a season from television contracts care if teams in League One and League Two, who are being asked to exist on thin air now that supporters are exiled from stadiums, go to the wall.

Why should they care if the football landscape that has existed in this country for more than a century is changed irrevocably?

Why? Because football in this country is not about us and them. Or it shouldn't be.

It is not about big versus small. Or it shouldn't be. It is about us all being in this together. It is about what Spurs fans did last week when they started buying up Leyton Orient merchandise as a gesture of solidarity after Orient lost £150,000 in TV money when the clubs' Carabao Cup tie was lost to coronavirus.

There was something beautiful about that. It symbolised something. The cynics say that the idea of communality in football is antiquated, but it isn't. Not amongst fans anyway.

Instinctively, English football fans recognise the value of tradition and the fact that if one part of the game in this country suffers, the rest of it will suffer, too. It is a shame some of the billionaires who run our top clubs can't see it, too.

Football is not a loose association of avaricious hedge fund managers, however much the Burnley manager, Sean Dyche, might wish to draw that comparison.

Football in this country is about more than that. Or it should be. It is about communality and togetherness. And it is about English football only being as strong as the weakest of the 92 clubs.

You can call some of this naive if you want to. I understand that. But when I think of naivety, I prefer to think of Premier League clubs spending £30m, £40m, £50m or more on players this summer, of all summers, and then going to the Government with a straight face and saying they don't have the money to bail out the EFL. That's naive.

So forgive me if I don't take any lectures about naivety from the brilliant businessmen who run some of our top clubs and if I remind them of what they appear to have forgotten or what they never understood in the first place: that if the lower leagues in this country wither and die, then those clubs currently at the top of the pyramid will wither and die, too.

Clubs in the lower leagues, and beyond, are integral to their communities and they are integral to the health of football in general in this country. They are all part of a whole.

That's one of the reasons why the government, to its credit, is said to be on the verge of providing financial assistance to clubs in the National League to help them survive the next few months.

However much some Premier League owners might like to think the top division is an island, it is not. It only exists because the rest of the pyramid exists. Their strength, their appeal, depends on the rest of the pyramid.

It is not independent of it. The magic of English football lies in the four divisions and the struggle to get to the top of them. Take that away and the Premier League will not be the same. The magic of English football lies in the dream, however improbable, that any one of the 92 clubs can make it to the top. That is why the idea of no relegation is anathema to us.

The magic lies in a network of football communities spreading across the whole country.

Destroy that and you destroy the Premier League, too. Not immediately, perhaps, but gradually and irrevocably. The death of lower league clubs will spread upwards like disease.

Listen to Andy Holt, the owner of League One Accrington Stanley, one of the best and most responsible football custodians in our top four divisions.

'Football in this country is a social and communal entity and a national treasure,' he told me on Saturday. 'It cannot be left to market forces. The top clubs wield so much power but they are only there because of the rest of the pyramid.'

There is so much to admire about the Premier League but if some clubs are too stupid to help themselves, so addicted to spending that they have nothing left in reserve, then how can they be relied upon to recognise that they have a responsibility to help others and preserve the health of the pyramid?

That's the problem. The model was broken before Covid-19 hit sport. It is just that the coronavirus has shone a light on it. Last week, the Premier League clubs sought to impose conditions on the EFL for helping them through the next six months until supporters are allowed to return to grounds.

The arrogance of that was another indication that something more needs to be done to fix the system.

If the clubs that find themselves in the top division at the moment will only help on their terms, they should be forced to help on everyone's terms. It is time that some form of statutory regulation was imposed on English football for the general good.

One of Andy Holt's ideas is a tax on transfer fees that is paid into a central fund. There are plenty of other ways that monies — monies corralled by the Premier League since its inception — could be distributed more evenly.

It is time we started to look at a wider form of the revenue-sharing model favoured by the NFL and others. English football is an eco-system. If it is smart, it will see the hardship that has been visited upon it by the coronavirus crisis as an opportunity.

The Premier League is something for us to be proud of but how much better it would be, how much more proud of it we would be, if it let go of some of its greed and spread its wealth.

If it doesn't, if six more months without fans kill off a slew of clubs in the lower leagues, then English football will start to die from the bottom up.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Sep 27, 2020 2:52 am

However @RorySmith in his New York Times newsletter has a contrasting view to the Holts - not because he wants the Premier League to breakaway - he just knows that there are bigger prizes to be had if there are few to share it with

https://twitter.com/soccerquant/status/ ... 9473087489

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Sep 27, 2020 2:56 am

For now though - the Premier League are pkanning their strategy to get those revenues up and that means fans back in the grounds, and as previously posted the bargaining chip is a pyramid support package - from the Mail


No fans back, no bailout! Premier League clubs call emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss cash crisis facing football amid fury at the Government effectively ruling out fans attending matches until MARCH 2021
+ Premier League clubs will meet to discuss the cash crisis facing the sport
+ It comes after the Government effectively ruled out fans returning until March
- Clubs are frustrated that the Governmentt are expecting them to bail out Football League while also imposing restrictions on fans being unable to return
- Premier League believe banning return of fans is based on political expediency
By ROB DRAPER FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 22:30, 26 September 2020 | UPDATED: 22:30, 26 September 2020

Premier League clubs will meet on Tuesday in an emergency session to discuss the extraordinary circumstances of the current season now that the Government has effectively ruled out any fans attending matches until March.

The special shareholders' meeting, confirmed late on Friday night, is necessary because of the number of pressing issues caused by Covid-19 and the Government's new restrictions.

There is huge frustration at a number of Premier League clubs that the Government is expecting them to bail out the English Football League to the tune of £250million at the same time as imposing restrictions on fans which mean all clubs are expected to make huge losses this season.

Whilst the Premier League is extremely mindful of the tightrope the Government has to walk and that safety is paramount, it is felt that the decision to ban fans, announced by senior cabinet member Michael Gove, isn't based on science but on political expediency in that it would look bad even if there is minimal risk.

One source pointed out that Gove spoke of stadia 'thronged with crowds' while test events have shown that is far from the reality.

It suggested that senior politicians hadn't studied data from or engaged with the reporting from the test events.

Most clubs have space to provide for rigid social distancing and experienced stewards to enforce it.

Clubs also have a complete record of attendees for track and trace, while many pubs and restaurants aren't taking customers' details because it is impractical yet have been allowed to stay open.

Whilst an EFL bailout will be on the agenda on Tuesday, it is unlikely to be agreed until there is more clarity from the Government.

Brighton chief executive Paul Barber said on Saturday: 'I think the PL and EFL have been discussing it [National League bailout]. It is difficult for PL clubs, but the biggest concern is down the pyramid. It is something that the PL and EFL need to address.

'But we have to invest and spend in players to generate the TV interest. We have to make sure our business survives and the pyramid survives too. It is not long ago that Brighton were in that lower level.

'One way is to try and bring fans back, that would allow us to stand on our own two feet. We held a test event and there was no risk, and there are other totally unregulated events that are allowed to occur.

'We are going to appeal to the Government to allow football clubs to run their businesses.'

Financial expert Kieran Maguire has calculated what the losses of PL clubs would have been in 2018-19 without matchday income. Chelsea would have lost £202m, Everton £131m and Arsenal £124m and only two clubs would have made a profit.

France, with a higher coronavirus infection rate, has fans back as do Germany, Holland and Belgium.

Informed sources across the talks between sport and the Government think it is unlikely there will be any fans back until March and even then it is likely to be only 20-30 per cent of capacity.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Sep 27, 2020 3:02 am

I am hoping that this is some sort of sick joke - Dutch club has ground entance sponsored by a sex toy company

https://twitter.com/KilookeranMaguire/s ... 8385898496

look at that image and tell me how happy that the Primary sponsor Rabobank will be having their name in shot of that entrance

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Sep 27, 2020 11:43 am

The Telegraph are suggesting that the Championship will join the rest of the EFL in implementing a salary cap

EFL Championship consider introducing salary cap this winter
TOM MORGAN SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

The English Football League’s Championship is considering introducing salary caps this winter in an attempt to rein in losses of about £1 million a month at every club.

Mark Ashton, the Bristol City chief executive and the EFL board director, describes in an article for Telegraph Sport how Covid-19 has “brutally exposed” the need for a financial reset across the pyramid.

With clubs edging closer to the cliff edge without match-day revenue, Ashton warned the Government a timetable for spectators to return “needs to happen today because there is no tomorrow”.

The EFL is in talks with the Premier League over a potential £250 million rescue package, but that figure – only for loss in ticketing revenue – will go nowhere near covering the overall losses facing clubs. “The foundations of the pyramid are in danger, and we need to protect them,” Ashton said.

Having spoken to other Championship owners and executives, Ashton said there was a “real chance” of salary caps being introduced following similar measures for League One and League Two. “Don’t be surprised if that appears in the Championship by the end of the season,” he said.

Ashton is among a host of executives across the tiers to criticise the Government’s decision to postpone the return of crowds for six months with no timetable for the return of pilots. “The decision to stop crowd pilots has slammed shut that little bit of light at the end of the tunnel and we desperately need the door reopened,” he said.

The delay could force the EFL to increase the current £250 million bail-out it wants from the Premier League, he suggested. “The longer we risk not bringing supporters back, the bigger that number becomes,” he says. “That rescue package is absolutely vital but clearly this is a short-term solution.”

Steve Kavanagh, chief executive of Millwall, described how his club had been losing £1 million a month since March. Ashton said that figure was borne out across the division.

“I’m speaking to Championship, League One, League Two owners, CEOs and chairmen, and the pain is clearly visible,” Ashton said.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by FactualFrank » Sun Sep 27, 2020 11:54 am

Chester Perry,

I saw these numbers on Facebook, are they correct from last season?

Total income: £137m

Expense:
Wages: £87m
Running costs: £17m

Profit: £35m

Player trading loss: -£30m

Total Profit last season: £5m.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Sep 27, 2020 11:58 am

FactualFrank wrote:
Sun Sep 27, 2020 11:54 am
Chester Perry,

I saw these numbers on Facebook, are they correct from last season?

Total income: £137m

Expense:
Wages: £87m
Running costs: £17m

Profit: £35m

Player trading loss: -£30m

Total Profit last season: £5m.
No, at a glance it looks like someone has just randomly picked numbers from the last 3 sets of accounts and added them all together for the trading loss. it is something I was going to look at later - maybe this evening
Last edited by Chester Perry on Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by FactualFrank » Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:04 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Sun Sep 27, 2020 11:58 am
No, it looks like someone has just randomly picked numbers from the last 3 sets of accounts and added them all together for the trading loss. it is something I was going to look at later - maybe this evening
So what should the numbers be? (sorry if it's mentioned - it would mean a lot of scrolling)

accounts.jpg
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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:23 pm

FactualFrank wrote:
Sun Sep 27, 2020 11:54 am
Chester Perry,

I saw these numbers on Facebook, are they correct from last season?

Total income: £137m

Expense:
Wages: £87m
Running costs: £17m

Profit: £35m

Player trading loss: -£30m

Total Profit last season: £5m.
FF, Those figures are accurate for financial year to Jun'19 with the odd exception as follows:-

Player trading profit £8m
Player amortisation £38m
Net profit before tax £5m
Taxation £0.7m

Net Profit after tax £4.3m

As a coincidence I'm currently part way through an estimate of the equivalent figures to July'20 (13 month financial year this time) and will post my findings within the next 24 hours.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by FactualFrank » Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:31 pm

Royboyclaret wrote:
Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:23 pm
FF, Those figures are accurate for financial year to Jun'19 with the odd exception as follows:-

Player trading profit £8m
Player amortisation £38m
Net profit before tax £5m
Taxation £0.7m

Net Profit after tax £4.3m

As a coincidence I'm currently part way through an estimate of the equivalent figures to July'20 (13 month financial year this time) and will post my findings within the next 24 hours.
So it seems we really don't have much to play about with and invest into new players, and the board aren't being tight?

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by claretandy » Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:35 pm

FactualFrank wrote:
Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:31 pm
So it seems we really don't have much to play about with and invest into new players, and the board aren't being tight?
That's just one years figures in isolation, doesn't show previous years profits and the 40m cash in the bank we had.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:37 pm

FactualFrank wrote:
Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:31 pm
So it seems we really don't have much to play about with and invest into new players, and the board aren't being tight?
All the indications so far suggest a small Net Loss to July'20, but as I say, I need another day or so to complete my projected Profit & Loss account to July'20.

The P/L account does not show the Cash at Bank situation (which was £41.6m at Jun'19). Again my initial thoughts suggest that figure will have completely disappeared by July'20, so a lot of the criticism of MG in that respect is totally unjustified.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by FactualFrank » Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:37 pm

claretandy wrote:
Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:35 pm
That's just one years figures in isolation, doesn't show previous years profits and the 40m cash in the bank we had.
40m isn't going to go very far when you take into account the wages that player will get. And it sounds like they want to keep hold of £x in case of emergencies. Overall, it just doesn't look like we have much to spend unless we were to go borrow.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Sep 27, 2020 2:14 pm

You have to suspect that this on Quest last night has helped boost Oliver Dowden' and lead to today's renewed statement's saying the Premier Leagues should bail out the pyramid

https://twitter.com/ColinMurray/status/ ... 7384422400

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Sep 27, 2020 2:27 pm

An article that indirectly explains why any money that our club may currently hold as cash in hand, needs to be held to meet our future fixed costs (wages/infrastructure/outstanding transfer liabilities) that are already in play. Something has to meet those costs when the revenue drops. - from PremierSportsNetwork.com

Premier League’s Asian broadcasters eye rebate over fixture rescheduling
The Premier League could face another financial blow after its Asian broadcast partners demand a rebate due to its fixture scheduling prioritising domestic fans.

England’s top flight league has rescheduled a number of fixtures to domestic evening slots throughout September, which has reportedly led to broadcasters in areas such as Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore to request a multi-million-pound rebate if this type of scheduling is to continue.

Asia is viewed as an important market to the English Premier League in growing its audience and overall wealth. The league lost its £188 million per year deal with Chinese broadcaster Suning PPTV and will not want to lose any more of its £400 million riches from the region.

The broadcasters from across the Asian region have complained that the deal has been devalued from its reported £330 million across PCCW’s Now TV, Singtel, Star Sports, TrueVisions and Astro, due to the late kick-off times that have greatly reduced the viewing figures because of the unsociable hours that games are being shown.

The Premier League in the past has had success in being able to negotiate broadcast deals with the Asian market as a result of their ability to be able to schedule fixtures to suit primetime TV slots, however, only two matches have been played at 3pm so far this season after UK fans demanded that all games were broadcasted whilst they were being played behind closed doors.

This, in turn, has led to games being moved to work with domestic broadcast partners who make up the bulk of the broadcasting deal, which are Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime and the BBC.

Further disruption and unrest could take place in the coming weeks after the UK government moved to cancel plans of allowing some fans back into stadiums in October, resulting in the Premier League having to mull over a new broadcasting schedule to suit all broadcasters, fans and clubs who are set to lose up to £100 million a month in their usual matchday revenue.

An emergency meeting has been called for October 3, where the broadcasting schedule is set to be finalised.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Sep 27, 2020 2:53 pm

GameofthePeople.com with a reminder of why non-league football (and most of football in general) is in the mess it finds itself

Non-League’s rainy day… time to crisis test and change the constitution
GOTP Editorial Team
Posted on September 24, 2020
THE late Alan Hull of Lindisfarne once wrote a tune called “The Money Game” and sang that he could “smile when it’s a rainy day”, implying that he didn’t have to worry about cash when things were bad. Sadly, modern lifestyles and mass consumerism have left many people without a proverbial pot to pee in, personal debt is high and many folk are one missed pay day away from disaster. In some ways, non-league football reflects that scenario and the game at that level could be facing a rainy day like no other.

At this precise moment, clubs at steps three and beyond are allowed to admit spectators, but the signs are not good. Already, in response to rising cases of the covid-19 virus, the UK’s floundering government has started to restrict normal activity once more. While pubs, restaurants and shops have been affected for some time, this latest clampdown could spell disaster for many if it morphs into another lockdown.

We all missed football when there was none and the sheer joy at being allowed back into non-league games was there for all to see. But there were some examples of spectators and players failing to adhere to the rules – notably a much-publicised game involving Hashtag United. The club’s timing could not have been worse, it was screened on the BBC and made most newspapers, just a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson fist-pumped his latest instructions.

If the game at Soham witnessed such scenes, is it possible that others that were not so much in the public eye also had examples of the rules and precautions being ignored? There is a distinct chance that non-league football could be stopped in its tracks if the game doesn’t work out a way to prevent a repeat performance.

Most grounds at step three, for example, should be able to accommodate a restricted crowd at a safe distance. Indeed, the demographic at most stadiums comprises fans simply not interested in jumping on each other for fear of a dislocation, sprain or break. The average stadium utilisation rate in the Southern League Central Premier, for example, is just 11%, meaning that there’s a lot of unused room.

Nobody should underestimate the damage that abandoning another season will do to the very fabric of non-league. Matchday revenue is a huge part of a club’s income, there is no broadcasting money to compensate. Clubs have become very vulnerable.

Can they do anything about it? Non-league has to take a long hard look at itself and its economic model. Players’ wages have to be limited and not consume a huge part of total revenues. Clubs need to have a fighting fund to pay for that leaky roof, broken perimeter fence or dressing room refurb. Spectator comfort and safety should be the top priority. Clubs need to be stress-tested.

There also has to be more thought given to making the supporters – essentially the only people who truly care about the club’s longevity – have to become true stakeholders. This requires a nation-wide movement to change the constitution of semi-professional and amateur clubs. The notion that your local club is effectively Manchester United in short trousers has to end – the big time is corporate football, the small time is community football.

This may sound like a pipedream and a threat to their current status, but when small clubs call for bail-outs and supporter money to keep them afloat, something needs to be assessed – how many clubs are really financially viable?

Moreover, if clubs rely on charity, the supporters need to receive something in return that validates their contribution. Yes, the time of fan-owned clubs is upon us.

Whether a second lockdown comes or not, it is the right moment to change how non-league clubs sit in the community. There’s a lot of talk about “community clubs” but this should surely be a two-way street, not merely a license to gain grants and kudos. Make the fans true stakeholders, not merely a revenue stream to be tapped when times are hard.

This really is non-league football’s tipping point. There’s a huge opportunity out there to pick-up new audiences and fill a gap for live football. Screw it up and when this crisis passes for us all, we may find that the club in the heart of town has been boarded up.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Sep 27, 2020 2:58 pm

and just to emphasize the point that football itself is in that same mess as non-league the same people at GameofthePeople.com did this article after the 2019-20 financial results of Juventus were made public - (we have Manchester United's 2019-20 results coming soon and Ed Woodward's programme notes last week were a useful harbinger of what they are going to look like

https://twitter.com/sistoney67/status/1 ... 9890020356

back to that Juventus article

Juventus financial performance – the bubble starts to deflate
GOTP Editorial Team
Posted on September 24, 2020

WHEN a club of Juventus’ size has financial issues, then we should all be concerned about the future of top level professional football. The dominant force in Italy, regular Champions League participants, the most popular and visible club in their home country and a team of big-name players. How does a club like Juventus get into such a mess?

Covid-19 has played its part. Predictably, Juve’s revenues were down in the financial year ended June 30 2020, but the most worrying sign for fans of the club is that they have been releasing players to ease the burden on their balance sheet. Gonzalo Higuain and Blaise Matuidi had their contracts terminated and the club is desperate to let others go, such as Sami Khedira, who has refused to leave. Little wonder the club’s president, Andrea Agnelli, in his role at the European Club Association, told the media major European clubs would lose around € 3.6 billion in revenues due to the crisis.

Juventus revised their year-end figures after letting Higuain and Matuidi go for nothing. The departure of Higuain to Inter Miami had a negative impact on the financial result to the tune of € 19 million. Four years ago, Juve paid € 90 million for the Argentinian striker.

Juventus made a record loss for the year of € 89.7 million, their third consecutive annual deficit and 125% higher than their loss of € 39.9 in 2018-19. Their operating loss was € 67.1 million, more than three times higher than a year earlier. The club has effectively used shareholder capital to cover its losses.

Juve’s total revenues, including € 172 million from players’ registration rights, amounted to € 573.4 million, approximately € 48 million (8%) lower than 2018-19.

Understandably, given the pandemic, Juve’s matchday income declined by more than € 21 million to € 49.2 million. Broadcasting saw the biggest hit, though, falling from € 206.6 million to € 166.4 million. Commercial income was more or less unchanged at € 186 million.

The media has been talking about Juve’s problems for some time. Tuttosport, for example, said they were desperately keen to relieve pressure on the payroll while it was reported that Italian investment bank Banca IMI had forecast a loss as high as US$ 122 million. The club has already reduced its wage bill, taking it from € 327.7 million to € 284. 3 million – and that is with Cristiano Ronaldo still on their books. Even after the reduction, the wage bill still represents 70% of income – a very high and unsustainable figure. Other media reports suggested the club was keen to sell Ronaldo to the Premier League for € 70 million to cash-in while his value was still high and not eroded by the crisis. Ronaldo, who waived four months’ wages earlier this year, earns € 570,000 per week at Juventus (€ 30 million per year).

In the circumstances, a major concern has to be the club’s level of indebtedness. Net financial debt, while 17% lower than 12 months earlier, is still high at € 385.2 million.

Juventus won their ninth consecutive scudetto in 2020 but they were pushed all the way. They went out of the UEFA Champions League in the round of 16, losing to Lyon. At the end of 2019-20, they disposed of manager Maurizio Sarri, installing Andrea Pirlo in his place. Juve have longed to win the Champions League and reached the final in 2015 and 2017, but they seem further away from success than at any point in the past decade. Their financial situation may not be existential, but it may affect their ability to be competitive in European competition.

Despite the current financial situation, Juventus have signed a number of players for 2020-21, including Arthur from Barcelona (a deal which sent Pjanic to Spain) and have taken Alvaro Morata on loan from Atlético Madrid. But their star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, is 35 and their coach has no track record as a manager.

More positively, Juventus are still trying to expand their global footprint and have struck a partnership with the Hong Kong-based Raffles Family Office in order to grow their presence in Asia. Juventus opened a marketing office in Asia 2019.

For some years, football experts have been warning of a bubble-like situation that could burst at any time. The covid-19 pandemic may have created that scenario, in which case, Juventus may be just one of many clubs to feel challenged by the crisis. It would certainly be no surprise if the club’s rivals in Italy reported similar problems in the months ahead.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Sun Sep 27, 2020 3:19 pm

TwoHunderedPercent.com with the latest on the current biggest Legal cases in football - can you imagine the President of PSG, Chair of Bien media and UEFA Executive Commitee member getting the 28 month jail sentence that the Swiss Prosecutors are asking for.

Football on Trial: Pinto, Al-Khelaifi & Valcke
by Mark | Sep 26, 2020

The two sides of football’s corruption, ahem, ‘coin’ are currently on show (trial).
On 4th September, in Portuguese capital Lisbon’s Central Criminal Court, the trial began of Rui Pinto, a 31-year-old, self-styled whistleblower and alleged computer hacker/blackmailer. Pinto is “behind” the “Football Leaks” (FL) website, a.k.a. “a whistleblower’s platform” and “the largest leak in the history of sport.”

Ten days later, in Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, the trial began of Jerome Valcke, a 59-year-old former Secretary-General of (and twice sacked by) world football governing body, Fifa, and often labelled disgraced Fifa ex-president Sepp Blatter’s, ahem, “number two.” Alongside him is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the 46-year-old chair of Qatari media group BeIN Sports, president of French champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and member of European football governing body Uefa’s Executive Committee (ExCo).

The contrast is superficially obvious. Baddies accused of the sort of skullduggeries upon which whistles have been blown. But nuances abound. The Swiss trial has a complex backstory, given the involvement of Switzerland’s recently, rightly much-maligned Attorney-General’s office. The case against Pinto has more merit than many media supporters admit. And it felt appropriately confusing that Pinto was put in witness protection while awaiting his OWN trial.

If you’ve read about football finance ‘scandals’ since September 2015, FL will likely have been among the sources. Manchester City’s run-ins with Uefa’s regulatory interpretation of what constitutes ‘financial fair play” was an FL leak (and City’s appeal part-success against Uefa-imposed sanctions was not because of deficiencies in the FL data). Likewise, Cristiano Ronaldo’s run-ins with various legal authorities, despite Pinto once declaring the preening Portuguese his “favourite player” and history’s “most complete footballer.”

FL will turn five next Tuesday. There will be no birthday party as Pinto will still be in court, facing 90 criminal charges. Sixty-eight of undue access to computer files, 14 of correspondence violation, six of illegitimate access, and one each of computer sabotage and extortion/attempted extortion.

Operating under unimaginative pseudonym “John,” until ‘outed’ in September 2018, Pinto calls himself a whistleblower, serving the public interest (and salaciously interesting the public) in exposing the depth of football’s financial corruption. He claims he was inspired by the infamous May 2015 Fifa arrests and by seeing “irregularities in numerous transfers within Portugal,” although detractors note that his pre-FL accessing of computer information having more ‘personal finance’ motives.

FL has passed information onto “media partners,” the “European Investigative Collaborations” (EIC), also founded in September 2015 and including German news magazine Der Spiegel, leading Spanish newspaper El Mundo and French online investigative journal Mediapart.

Pinto’s exposees prefer the term “hacker,” for which is being prosecuted. Others label him a “computer genius,” complimentary but not necessarily helpful. Long-term Pinto legal representative, white-collar criminal and human rights French lawyer William Bourdon, likens him to US National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden. Less wisely, Pinto considers the demonstrably weird Julian Assange an inspiration.

Pinto has allegedly gone beyond football, for reasons good-and-ill. In 2013, the Cayman Islands-based Caledonian Bank (CB) alleged that he stole $350,000 from two CB accounts. Pinto said this was to show how easily their servers could be hacked, although to whom was unclear. The bank dropped charges against Pinto, who returned the second theft, $310,000, immediately but only half of the first amount, months later, having spent the rest.

CB noted, bitterly, that “the disclosure of our client’s identity, who is not indicted, would jeopardise their privacy, something that doesn’t appear indispensable for the discovery of the truth.” And they were anxious not to publicise how easily their cybersecurity was breached. CB went into fraud-induced bankruptcy in February 2015. Pinto told EIC journalists in January 2019: “In the end I haven’t received any money from that bank. I did not steal the money, that’s not the real story.” But when asked for the ‘real story’ he cited a “non-disclosure agreement” no-one else can find.

More nobly, he reportedly sourced the “Luanda Leaks,” a potentially more significant document-drop than FL. 715,000 leaked documents implicated Isobel doe Santos, the English-educated and domiciled 47-year-old daughter of Angolan ex-president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, in exploitative corruption in the former Portuguese colony. This has made her billions of dollars…and Africa’s richest woman.

The documents underpinned a January 2020 edition of BBC documentary series Panorama, entitled “The Corrupt Billionaire” (like there’s only one), fronted by Alan Pardew stunt-double Richard Bilton. Panorama said “most were obtained” by anti-corruption charity “the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.” But a week later, it was revealed that Pinto handed the documents to the charity in 2018.

The huge case against him was huger. Pinto had lived in Hungarian capital Budapest since leaving his native Portugal in 2015. He was arrested there in January 2019 and when extradited to Portugal in March, he faced 147 charges. His alleged ‘hacks’ focused on Lisbon’s Sporting Club de Portugal and private equity firm Doyen Sports Investments (DSI) and he also allegedly attempted to extort money from DSI’s then-CEO Nelio Lucas.

FL had by then spilled beans all over European football business. And Portuguese investigators also allegedly discovered that he had hacked…them. In June 2019, Pinto’s public prosecutor Patricia Barão declared his actions “not confined to Sporting and Doyen, nor to sport entities,” with possibly “several dozen ‘victims’.” But Lucas and DSI were the focus of massive hacks.

These were collated in an extensive 4,200-word article in December 2016, written by Mediapart’s Yann Phillipin as part of the EIC. “The Dirty Tricks of Doyen Sports,” outlined the “dark side” of DSI: “vast secret commissions to assist with player transfers, false billing and backdated contracts signed by frontmen.” And the now-illegal “third-party ownership” of footballers. Nonetheless, Pinto’s alleged extortion attempts ran counter to the public interest in which he claimed to be acting.

Pinto’s lawyers claimed, credibly, that his prosecution stemmed from “the mobilisation of all those worried about their judicial responsibility for the financial crimes in the football business, revealed by (FL).” But Pinto’s pleas that he “just wanted to see how important the documents were to Doyen…by learning how much Doyen was prepared to pay for my silence” (and that he soon regretted his naivete) rang less true. Especially with judge Calheiros da Gama, who wrote in July 2019 that “the way in which (Pinto) approached (Lucas) takes away any credibility of this version.”

Pinto ‘negotiated’ with Lucas under an alias, Artem Lobuzov, to whom he gave a Kazakhstan email address (Doyen has Kazakh ownership history). And da Gama thought his emails to Lucas “perfectly fitted” the “standard of normality in the accomplishment of this type of crime.” Pinto told Lucas what he had on DSI. He requested €500k-€1m to keep it quiet. And he ‘warned’ Lucas that “all this and more can appear online, and through the European press; certain French, Italian and Spanish papers have already requested a partnership to disclose information.” (the EIC). “Surely you do not want that, do you? But we can talk…”

Pinto claimed he deliberately demanded unrealistic money and noted that when Lucas responded with lawyers instead of realistic money, he gave up. Da Gama, making a case to keep Pinto in custody, claimed Pinto knew, having hacked DSI, that a mere million was very mere to them. And that Pinto only ‘gave up’ because he knew Portugal’s authorities were onto him (he had, after all, hacked them). Pinto made the Doyen docs among the first FL leaks anyway. But da Gama still had “no doubts that there was an extortion attempt.”

As if the waters of Pinto’s reputation weren’t muddied enough by all this, Andreas Selliaas of the excellent Danish sports transparency campaigning organisation “Play the Game,” did a curious, if exceptionally well-written hatchet-job on him this February, suggesting via headline, that FL “raises many questions, also for the media.”

Selliaas noted that “the charges against him as a blackmailer contrast sharply” with how “partners in the FL network have portrayed him for years.” But, even if that were entirely true (it isn’t), they would, wouldn’t they? And, disturbingly treating allegation as undisputed fact, Selliaas reported: “Many whistleblowers who have put their lives on the line are not particularly keen on being lumped into the same category as a person who has hacked data for personal gain.”

Of course, PTG is outside the “FL network,” which IS an oversight, given its sports transparency focus. And Selliaas is strong on other curious network absentees, noting, with appropriate alarm, that “even within Der Spiegel, the most hard-core investigative journalists seem left out, also some of those who exposed that Germany bought the hosting rights for the 2006 World Cup.” But PTG’s absence from the network could also explain, at least in part, Selliaas’s bitterness.

He also accused “the media” of being “fairly biased,” with “few journalistic investigations of who Pinto is, few updates on arrests and court hearings,” and news about case developments “mainly come from news agencies. Why?” The correct question here is “eh?” Even I, a journalistic nobody, could add lots more on “who Pinto is” and on the case against him AND the Caledonian Bank farrago as his backstory, good and bad, has been meticulously documented across continents.*

In April, Pinto was moved from prison to house arrest, having agreed to “decrypt” the previously encrypted material on the hard drives seized upon his arrest, in return for it not being used against him. And on 7th August, he was released, on bail, into a witness protection programme, a move “made possible,” according to his lively lawyers “because he has cooperated with justice,” and seemingly made necessary by the decrypted information his co-operation has provided.

Pinto and his case continue to contradict. After years of wrongdoing denials, he has admitted in interviews that “from the standpoint of Portuguese law, some of my acts may be considered illegal,” while maintaining “that many things were not illegally done.” And the first days of his trial contained lively refutations along the same lines, based on documents his lawyers, Francisco and Luisa Teixeira da Mota, presented on Trial Eve.

An article by Norwegian website Josimar, headlined, “Man of many faces,” quoted extensively from the missive. The lawyers “admitted he illegally hacked dozens of email accounts and explain how ‘easily’ he did it with the help of the email account owners.” But “he did it with a noble intention: to reveal serious crimes. A reason why, they believe, he should be considered a whistleblower and his actions viewed as such.”

Pinto claimed that a “substantial portion of the published documents were sent by anonymous sources to FL,” having told Der Spiegel in February 2016 that “some of our sources do not realise they are our sources.” Now, to protect his sources, unknown or unknowing, he would take responsibility for “information he didn’t personally access and posts he didn’t publish.”

Pinto’s lawyers claimed he didn’t hack DSI, as Doyen Capital was “the true victim of illegal access.” But he admitted suggesting that DSI employ him “as a technician for €25,000-a-year” before he “voluntarily and sincerely gave up the extortion attempt,” a reason why, under Portuguese law, he wasn’t guilty of extortion. This part of Pinto’s defence is the hardest to define as nobly-intended or reconcile with his claim that “I never did anything for money.”

However, he would “continue collaborating with the authorities,” as his information had kick-started “important inquiries” (France’s financial crimes prosecution unit have expressed in-trial interest in it). And he pleaded: “I’m in a strange situation. I’m a defendant and a protected witness. I’ve been the target of a slander and libel campaign. I’ve been in prison for a year-and-a-half, with seven months of total isolation. It was very difficult.”

The case continues…probably for some months.

Valcke is “old school” Fifa corruption. The allegations against him were typical Fifa, involving awarding media rights, for the World and Confederation Cups.

The OAG’s February 2020 indictment said he “unlawfully enriched himself” while trying to buy a luxury Sardinian villa. He “was refunded” a €500,000, downpayment “after Al-Khelaifi purchased the villa instead.” Al-Khelaifi then gave Valcke “the exclusive right” to use it “for 18 months,” free of an estimated €900,000-€1.8m rent. Valcke should have reported this to Fifa…but didn’t. He was charged with “accepting bribes, aggravated criminal mismanagement and falsification of documents,” all linked to the villa.

Al-Khelaifi is new school (alleged) corruption, and new school money. He was highly visible at last month’s Uefa Champions League final, as PSG president, another reason to dislike PSG, like we needed one beyond Neymar. And he has been on Uefa’s ExCo since February 2019, despite being under investigation in Switzerland since March 2017 and the OAG opening criminal proceedings against him that October, accusing him of “bribery of private individuals.”

Valcke remains accused of “exploiting” his Fifa position “to influence the award of media rights for Italy and Greece” for World and Confederations Cups “from 2018 to 2030,” to “favour preferred media partners,” for which he received “€1.25m.” But “the suspicion” that he” accepted a luxury watch” from Al-Khelaifi was “not found to be substantiated.” And Al-Khelaifi remains accused of not much.

In January 2020, a month after “the OAG gave the parties written notice that it would be filing an indictment, Fifa informed them that it had reached an ‘unspecified amicable agreement (“accord amiable”) with Al-Khelaifi’ and that it was thus ‘withdrawing its criminal complaint against Al-Khelaifi and partially against Valcke.’”

This complaint had again involved “the award of media rights,” this time “for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups (and) other Fifa events in the Middle East and North Africa.” But as “the basis for these criminal proceedings” included this criminal complaint “which Fifa filed against the accused in December 2016,” and as the alleged offences were being “prosecuted only on complaint,” the OAG had to “abandon proceedings.”

Worse, on 30th March, Switzerland’s Federal Court damned the OAG’s allegation of criminal mismanagement collusion between Valcke and Al-Khelaifi. The ruling noted: “These conditions of mismanagement are absent from the OAG’s accusation (which) does not set out the specific management obligations Valcke allegedly breached in return for economic advantages. On the contrary, there is every reason to believe that (they) are the result of an agreement between them in a private capacity, without any connection with the function of general secretary that (Valcke) exercised.” But apart from that…

Al-Khelaifi considered boringly predictable counter-attack the best form of defence: “As I have said vehemently and repeatedly for three years, the charges have not, and have never had, any basis whatsoever, either in fact or law,” There was, he claimed, a “seemingly relentless agenda to smear my reputation in the media. For that reason, I have requested the relevant Swiss authorities to open a criminal enquiry into the conduct of the investigation.”

However, his and Valcke’s trial was set for September, despite his lawyers’ inevitable claims that even the diminished case against him was “completely unfounded” and “manifestly artificial.” They also asked, twice and unsuccessfully, that the case’s prosecutors be recused (withdrawn) and this time made a criminal “compliant” reportedly “related to leaks” (while Pinto was under house arrest, BTW).

Little surprise, then, that the trial was paused almost immediately, on a “procedural point.” But Al-Khelaifi’s lawyers suggested, correctly, that “the vast majority of this case does not relate to our client in any way.” And the procedural points belonged to lawyers for previously unnamed third accused party and “sports rights sector” businessman, Dinos Deris, who allegedly paid Valcke his €1.25m.

In Deris’s illness-enforced court absence, his lawyer Alec Reymons, argued unsuccessfully that the trial was flawed (Valcke’s lawyers said “muddied” and “contaminated”) by recently-revealed clandestine meetings between Fifa president Gianni Infantino and Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber, held and covered-up for still unclear purposes and currently the subject of separate Swiss criminal proceedings. Lauber resigned his attorney-generalship in July.

Valcke pleaded poverty. His bank, Credit Suisse, “wouldn’t give him a cent more” because of multi-million debts he racked up buying two houses and a yacht. And without “a lot of people I can ask for money from, I had to find someone to lend me money” (not bribes, though). “Without work, with a family, money burns very quickly,” he advised. And while he hoped that “an agriculture project” would “provide income in the coming months,” he said his circumstances had forced to him to sell the yacht and items of jewellery. Any red in court was surely embarrassment rather than hearts bleeding.

Prosecutors want Valcke banged up for three years, and Al-Khelaifi for 28 months. Federal Prosecutor Joel Pahud highlighted Al-Khelaifi’s “contempt for justice” in not co-operating with investigators and lying about buying THE Sardinian villa. Valcke sought Al-Khelaifi’s help with the villa, JUST as beIN Sports won a World Cup media rights contract extension. The men called this a “private arrangement,” unconnected to the contract talks. And the $480m beIN paid for the two World Cups was 60% more than 2018 and 2022 cost them. Which makes Fifa’s original criminal complaint ‘interesting.’

The case continues. And Al-Khelaifi may miss Uefa’s next ExCo meeting, in Budapest, the long-time home town of…Rui Pinto. Verdicts, guessable already, are expected next month.

The wheels of football justice tend to turn at whatever speed the game’s money and power dictate. Pinto has upset monied and powerful people. And even his briefly-dipped toe into extortion waters has given the monied and powerful a big enough hook on which to hang him. He is, as cockney telly cops are wont to say, “going down.”

Al-Khelaifi IS monied and powerful…even more so while under investigation, (and little sums up modern club football better than appointing a wealthy, former tennis player and potentially corrupt man to represent the European Clubs Association on European football’s governing ExCo). Suspension has been common for football administrators under investigation. Even Blatter. And Valcke. But Al-Khelaifi is no commoner. He could afford to “amicably agree” things with a Fifa happy to amicably agree things with he and his and his country’s money. And he’s staying up.

Valcke, meanwhile, is impossibly damaged and consequentially powerless goods. And, apparently, not monied. Fifa part-exonerated Valcke only so they could accord amiably with Al-Khelaifi. While the Swiss OAG’s incompetent record on Fifa prosecutions has allegedly been strongly influenced by Infantino. And with Infantino currently insisting that Fifa fell “victim to corrupt officials” pre-2015 and that this “will not come back,” Valcke looks like legal toast.

But nobody’s legal fate affects the veracity of Pinto’s leaks. As ever in such cases, the disputes are about context not content (although, asked for context, Manchester City chose regulation-breaching silence). And his case concerns improper information-gathering, a crime which legally neuters even the most damning evidence obtained by it.

The comparative legal fates of the Football and Luanda Leaks, and those of alleged co-conspirators Al-Khelaifi and Valcke, could be revealing. But Pinto’s information HAS exposed football skullduggeries and corruptions, of which Valcke and Al-Khelaifi were/are embodiments.

Pinto declared in court that his “work as a whistleblower is finished.” But as he told Der Spiegel in 2016, when explaining his less orthodox methods, “the important thing is that all our documents are genuine.” Which is these tales’ fundamental truth.

*The Pinto parts of this article have been constructed from extensively and exceptionally well-researched work by the journalists (and others) below, in the media outlets further below:

Yann Phillipin, Michael Bird, Zeynep Sentek, Craig Shaw, Rafael Buschmann, Michael Wulzinger, Hendrik Maassen, Nino Seidel, Nuno Tiago Pinto (no relation), Christoph Winterbach, Andreas Selliaas, Sam Cunningham, Ed Aarons, Sam Knight, Jon Allsopp.

Black Sea, Josimar, Play the Game, Der Spiegel, Sports Business, “i” , Guardian, New Yorker, Sabada, Colombia Journalism Review, Portugal News.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Mon Sep 28, 2020 1:12 pm

@SwissRamble looks at Borussia Dortmund's 2019/20 Financial results

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 4342677504

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Mon Sep 28, 2020 3:04 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Mon Sep 28, 2020 1:12 pm
@SwissRamble looks at Borussia Dortmund's 2019/20 Financial results

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 4342677504
Always interesting to compare and contrast the financial accounts of clubs from another European country with those of our own. In this case one of the most significant differences is in the make-up of Total Revenue. Commercial income plays a much more important role than say that of Burnley.

Latest figures from Dortmund highlight Commercial activity of 168mEuros (44% of Total Income) compared to Burnley of £16.5m (12%). Clearly broadcast income in the PL is higher than in Germany but even so German clubs appear to negotiate far more lucrative commercial deals than their English counterparts.

Broadcasting income at BD accounts for 45% of Total Income compared to 83% at Burnley. Also of interest is that Dortmund have the highest number of season tickets in Germany (capped at 55,500 to ensure ticket availability on match-day).

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Sep 29, 2020 1:05 pm

A thread explaining why even the original source of "Football's Magic Money Tree" have to be careful with their spending - or at least will need to factor in the the extra interest cost of doing so - the banks (like bookies) never aim to lose. Manchester United must pay higher interest on loans if their profits fall below £56m

https://twitter.com/Lu_Class_/status/13 ... 8003428352

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Sep 29, 2020 1:48 pm

SerieA have reported that they have lost more than €500m in revenues since the Covid crisis began - which represents around 20% of annual revenues - that number appears entirely consistent with all the big 5 leagues - from SportsBusiness.com

Serie A has lost more than €500m, chief executive says
Kevin McCullagh - September 29, 2020

Italian football’s Serie A has lost more than €500m ($573m) in revenues due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the league’s chief executive Luigi De Siervo has said.

The league’s three main revenue streams – tickets, sponsorship and media rights – had all been affected, De Siervo said, speaking to Italian public broadcaster Rai. He said, “The whole system is on the verge of collapse.”

De Siervo called on the government to allow teams to admit more spectators to stadiums – the current cap is 1,000 per match. The chief executive said stadiums open up to 25-per-cent capacity should be considered.

Sky Sports Italy reported that he said, “Football does not want privileged treatments compared to the rest of the country, but it also does not want to be disadvantaged. In the stadium there are large open spaces, we can distance people.”

Reuters reported that matchday revenues account for about 11 per cent of the league’s total €2.5bn annual revenues. The majority of revenues come from the sale of media rights.

To shore up its finances, Serie A is considering selling a stake in a business controlling the sale of its media rights to private equity investors. Two bids are reported to be on the table – a €1.35bn offer from Spanish media group Mediapro and private equity firms Bain Capital and NB Renaissance Partners; and a €1.63bn offer from a consortium consisting of CVC Capital Partners, Advent and Italy’s state-backed investor Fondo Strategico Italiano.

The league has asked for final bids to be submitted by September 30, and is to consider them next week.

Commenting on the forthcoming sale of domestic media rights, De Siervo predicted that there would be “positive surprises, despite the fact that there is currently no strong competition as was the case in past years, when Mediaset competed for the TV rights”.

He added: “We are attracting the interest of large international platforms, such as Amazon and Netflix, and we hope that football will return to the centre of the relationship between technologies and platforms.”

Commenting on the forthcoming sale of domestic media rights, De Siervo predicted that there would be “positive surprises, despite the fact that there is currently no strong competition as was the case in past years, when Mediaset competed for the TV rights”.

He added: “We are attracting the interest of large international platforms, such as Amazon and Netflix, and we hope that football will return to the centre of the relationship between technologies and platforms.”

Sky and OTT platform DAZN hold the live domestic rights to Serie A in deals worth €973m per season from 2018-19 to 2020-21. Sky Italia pays the bulk of that fee with its contribution standing at €780m per season which give it the rights to seven out of the 10 weekly Serie A fixtures.

DAZN pays €193.3m per season for the rights to the remaining three fixtures per week.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Sep 29, 2020 1:55 pm

Interesting table from @Sporting Intel on the top 20 beneficiaries of Premier League central distribution (broadcast monies)over the last 28 years - (not convinced that it includes last season

https://twitter.com/sportingintel/statu ... 5294383112

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:16 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Tue Sep 29, 2020 1:55 pm
Interesting table from @Sporting Intel on the top 20 beneficiaries of Premier League central distribution (broadcast monies)over the last 28 years - (not convinced that it includes last season

https://twitter.com/sportingintel/statu ... 5294383112
If Burnley's anticipated figure of £124m for '19/'20 is accurate, then those cumulative figures definitely do not include last season.
This user liked this post: Chester Perry

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:39 pm

Chester, from your previous post re La Liga....Chief Executive Luigi De Siervo "The whole system is on the verge of collapse"........It's really not difficult to see his English equivalent saying something very similar in the not too distant future. The broadcast rebate agreed for those final 9 matches last season was £340m (of which Burnley's part was £13.4m), therefore any projection for this season which includes games continuing to be played behind closed-doors until at least March can only produce figures which are enough to frighten any PL financial accountant.

Fortunately Burnley suffer less than any other PL club in terms of loss of match-day receipts, but nevertheless the argument from the broadcast rights-holders, that the PL are not delivering the product as agreed in the contract, is a perfectly valid one and any potential severe hit for this season will impact on Burnley very badly.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:52 pm

Royboyclaret wrote:
Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:39 pm
Chester, from your previous post re La Liga....Chief Executive Luigi De Siervo "The whole system is on the verge of collapse"........It's really not difficult to see his English equivalent saying something very similar in the not too distant future. The broadcast rebate agreed for those final 9 matches last season was £340m (of which Burnley's part was £13.4m), therefore any projection for this season which includes games continuing to be played behind closed-doors until at least March can only produce figures which are enough to frighten any PL financial accountant.

Fortunately Burnley suffer less than any other PL club in terms of loss of match-day receipts, but nevertheless the argument from the broadcast rights-holders, that the PL are not delivering the product as agreed in the contract, is a perfectly valid one and any potential severe hit for this season will impact on Burnley very badly.
It is worse than that Roy - the $13.4m was our share of the £160m Overseas broadcast rebate - and a third I think of The £170m Sky/BT rebate (the rest is to be paid this season and next and will be done on the same formula). This does not include the £160m still not collected from PPTV/Suning for last season, or the £178m lost on the Chinese deal this season or the rebates overseas broadcasters are looking for this season or the likely £160m+ shortfall on the Chinese TV deal next season.

Add to that this next couple of months was to see the launch of the tender process for the next cycle - which globally respected analyst Claire Enders was predicting a 10% - 15% drop domestically and big price corrections in the far East (which is what we are seeing with the China deal) prior to the pandemic.
Last edited by Chester Perry on Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:53 pm

Royboyclaret wrote:
Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:16 pm
If Burnley's anticipated figure of £124m for '19/'20 is accurate, then those cumulative figures definitely do not include last season.
A bit more detail behind that statement:-
2019....£115.0m
2018....£121.5m
2017....£105.0m
2016....£29.6m
2015....£66.6m
2014....£11.9m
2013....£8.2m
2012....£15.6m
2011....£16.1m
2010....£59.6m.

Think that's about it for us in the PL, plus of course the est.£124m for last season. Always some uncertainly surrounding this annual figure and, I'm sure Chester will recall, Burnley's figure for 2019 of a widely reported £107.3m magically became £115m by the time it hit our Profit & Loss account.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:55 pm

Royboyclaret wrote:
Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:53 pm
A bit more detail behind that statement:-
2019....£115.0m
2018....£121.5m
2017....£105.0m
2016....£29.6m
2015....£66.6m
2014....£11.9m
2013....£8.2m
2012....£15.6m
2011....£16.1m
2010....£59.6m.

Think that's about it for us in the PL, plus of course the est.£124m for last season. Always some uncertainly surrounding this annual figure and, I'm sure Chester will recall, Burnley's figure for 2019 of a widely reported £107.3m magically became £115m by the time it hit our Profit & Loss account.
I do. I suspect quite a bit of that will not be present this year - no prize money in the Carabao cup until final stages this year and I suspect FA Cup will have it's prize money altered significantly.

I have also recently thought that some of that additional broadcast income was for Claretsplayer subs and profits from our you-tube channel

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:20 pm

Tonight's file on 4 (that's Radio 4 is a special on the current financial crises hitting the football pyramid - from 8pm and features amongst other the chaps from the Price of football podcast

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000mzph

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:20 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:52 pm
It is worse than that Roy - the $13.4m was our share of the £160m Overseas broadcast rebate - The £170m Sky/BT rebate is to be paid this season and next and will be done on the same formula. This does not include the £160m still not collected from PPTV/Suning for last season, or the £178m lost on the Chinese deal this season or the rebates overseas broadcasters are looking for this season or the likely £160m+ shortfall on the Chinese TV deal next season.

Add to that this next couple of months was to see the launch of the tender process for the next cycle - which globally respected analyst Claire Enders was predicting a 10% - 15% drop domestically and big price corrections in the far East (which is what we are seeing with the China deal) prior to the pandemic.
Much of which was so expertly predicted by The esk in his "Football Shorts - part one" article from several months ago. Not difficult to imagine a devastating effect on the beautiful game if no fans are allowed until March next year and yet still the EFL continue to call for further financial assistance from the PL.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by AndyClaret » Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:24 pm

Royboyclaret wrote:
Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:53 pm
A bit more detail behind that statement:-
2019....£115.0m
2018....£121.5m
2017....£105.0m
2016....£29.6m
2015....£66.6m
2014....£11.9m
2013....£8.2m
2012....£15.6m
2011....£16.1m
2010....£59.6m.

It has us down for 9 full premier League seasons.

Think that's about it for us in the PL, plus of course the est.£124m for last season. Always some uncertainly surrounding this annual figure and, I'm sure Chester will recall, Burnley's figure for 2019 of a widely reported £107.3m magically became £115m by the time it hit our Profit & Loss account.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:39 pm

Royboyclaret wrote:
Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:20 pm
Much of which was so expertly predicted by The esk in his "Football Shorts - part one" article from several months ago. Not difficult to imagine a devastating effect on the beautiful game if no fans are allowed until March next year and yet still the EFL continue to call for further financial assistance from the PL.
It is crazy to see how much stick Paul get's from Evertonian's for pointing out the realities of the situation - for the most part we are either ignored or trusted, he get's some dog's abuse at times.

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by claretandy » Tue Sep 29, 2020 4:08 pm

Royboyclaret wrote:
Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:53 pm
A bit more detail behind that statement:-
2019....£115.0m
2018....£121.5m
2017....£105.0m
2016....£29.6m
2015....£66.6m
2014....£11.9m
2013....£8.2m
2012....£15.6m
2011....£16.1m
2010....£59.6m.

Think that's about it for us in the PL, plus of course the est.£124m for last season. Always some uncertainly surrounding this annual figure and, I'm sure Chester will recall, Burnley's figure for 2019 of a widely reported £107.3m magically became £115m by the time it hit our Profit & Loss account.
It has us down for 9 full seasons ?

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Re: Football's Magic Money Tree

Post by Royboyclaret » Tue Sep 29, 2020 4:09 pm

AndyClaret wrote:
Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:24 pm
AndyClaret, they do indeed suggest 9 seasons in the PL, but I think we know better.

Since we were first promoted in '09, we have enjoyed 6 full seasons in the PL ('10, '15, '17, '18, '19 & '20). Of course in all of the intervening seasons we earned some level of parachute payments as detailed in my previous post.

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