2015:15:00- 2015: The 2016 Presidential Election

ILLUSTRATION UEFA (uefa.com)

JAKARTA - European football clubs are expected to lose 8.7 billion euros in revenue, or around Rp153 trillion, as they struggle to cope with the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, UEFA reports.

An annual study of the European club football landscape reveals the current revenue projections lost in the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 financial years are 7.2 billion euros (around Rp126 trillion) for top clubs and 1.5 billion (around Rp26 trillion) for lower-tier clubs.

"In last year's report, I said that European football is strong, united, resilient, and ready for new challenges," UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin was quoted as saying by AFP on Friday.

"But no one could have predicted that we would have to face the greatest challenges for football, sport and society in this modern age."

The national league and UEFA club competitions, the Champions League and Europa League, have mostly been played in isolation since the pandemic hit Europe in early 2020.

"Every level and every corner of professional football is dealt a severe blow," said the report from European football's governing body. Clubs that rely heavily on the presence of supporters have been affected by the pandemic.

As a result of budget cuts, the transfer spending of European clubs in the summer window last year fell by 39 percent.

The reduction in revenue streams has forced UEFA to temporarily loosen Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, which aim to ensure clubs do not spend more than they earn.

However, Ceferin acknowledged more permanent changes may be needed on FFP.

Manchester City overturned a two-season ban imposed by UEFA for breaching FFP rules at the Court of Arbitration for Sport last year.

In the first season of the ban, City reached the Champions League final for the first time, where they will face Chelsea on 29 May.

"This report clearly shows that we are now operating in a new financial reality, and it is becoming clear that our current Financial Fair Play regulations need to be adapted and updated," Ceferin said.

"Financial sustainability will remain our goal, and UEFA and European football will work as a team to equip our sport with new rules for a bright new future."

On a lighter note, the report analyzed tens of thousands of matches to document a significant drop in home wins, from 45 percent before COVID-19 to 42 percent post-COVID and identified other trends, such as a marked drop in away team yellow and red cards.