“BARCELONA” FOOTBALL CLUB IS ONE STEP AWAY FROM THE BANKRUPTCY

The meeting of the Football Association of European Clubs (ECA) was held on March 27. During the meeting, one of the leaders of “Germany” football club suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic would bankrupt the Catalan club of “Barsa” one of the first. “If something unexpected happens, then “Barsa” is the first club from the top division to face bankruptcy,” claim the numerous Spanish periodicals.

It is important that it was mentioned not by some critic from the board of directors of the club, headed by the President Josep Bartomeu, but by the top manager of one of the Bundesliga's most serious football clubs. According to the sports official, the epidemic will have a significant impact on the income of the Catalan grand.

The club found itself in a difficult situation due to the loss of the profit from the Champions League matches and matches for the championship of Spain.

According to the experts, financial losses of $ 140 million could become a reality for the club. The national features of doing the sports business in Germany and Spain should be certainly taken into account. According to a German expert, the business model, demonstrated by Barcelona, is an adventure. Traditionally, it was considered one of the largest in Europe.

Earlier, it became known that the leadership of “Barsa” decided to reduce its employees working hours and wages. The football club announced the ERTE (Expediente de Regulación Temporal de Empleo), i.e.  the use of a special temporary employment law. Currently, according to the decision of the Spanish government, all organizations, affected by the crisis, can turn to ERTE to reduce salary costs, reducing the number of staff.

In this case, the government will subsidize the social insurance payments for the workers, who will be affected by the reduction.                                                    

According to a special regulation of the Government of Spain, workers will be entitled to receive unemployment benefits, even if they have not worked 360 days, required in normal circumstances, to receive the compensation.

Such measures were taken by the leading managers of Catalan football club after they have failed to reach a voluntary agreement with the players on a reduction of the salaries. Barcelona wanted to use an example of Munich “Bavaria”, whose players agreed to a 20% reduction of salaries (it helped to save about € 67 million). “Barsa” tried to reduce the salaries of the main team players by 30%, thereby intending to save about € 542 million. But the team players have divided into three groups: some of them agreed, some showed the indifference, and some of the players refused.

Now the ERTE protocol will be applied to football players and to ordinary club employees both. In total, according to official figures, there are about 1,800 salaries, paid in “Barsa”, 540 of which are the salaries of people, who are not involved in the sports events (attendants, club management, etc.). At the same time, the salaries of employees reach only 3.7% of the total budget of the club, while the salaries of the players reach 61%. Whether the club’s current cuts will save it from the predicted bankruptcy, is a big question that no expert is able to answer now.