90min

Football Has Lost £11.1bn During Coronavirus Crisis According to FIFA Analysis

By Matt O'Connor-Simpson

FIFA analysis has revealed the true impact of the coronavirus crisis
FIFA analysis has revealed the true impact of the coronavirus crisis / OZAN KOSE/Getty Images
facebooktwitterreddit

Football has lost $14.4bn (£11.1bn) during the coronavirus crisis, according to FIFA's analysis.

Sport across the world was brought to a close by the pandemic back in March and things only started reopening in the summer - albeit without spectators in most cases.

Football stadiums have been empty throughout the crisis
Football stadiums have been empty throughout the crisis / Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

Football was no different and analysis by the game's international governing body has recently revealed the full extent of the lockdown's impact. As reported by the Guardian, it is believed that losses so far total $14.4bn (£11.1bn). The figure refers to the amount lost by both club and international football.

150 out of 211 member associations have applied for emergency Covid grants and one executive has warned the situation will be "impossible" for FIFA to mitigate alone.

"It’s a huge number and it covers the football economy in its entirety," said Olli Rehn, the chairman of the FIFA Covid-19 relief plan steering committee. "It cannot be an exact figure, but it is an estimate of losses in 211 member associations."

It is estimated that the club game generates a staggering $40-45bn per year and while Europe has surrendered the most money in total, it is in Latin American and Brazil in which the situation is particularly dire.

Current FIFA president Gianni Infantino
Current FIFA president Gianni Infantino / Paolo Bruno/Getty Images

"If you look at the breakdown of losses in absolute and relative terms, European clubs and member associations were most impacted in absolute figures," he said.

"But relatively those outside Europe have struggled more, especially in Latin America, mainly as a result of revenue mix and season timing. Smaller countries that are dependent on FIFA will actually be hit least."

FIFA have been quick to provide support to its members, offering each association $1.5m in grants with a third of these funds being ring-fenced for women's football funding.

“The loss under any scenario was too great for Fifa to mitigate alone. We are working very intensively with confederations to improve the situation," Rehn added.