The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Executive: 100 or more clubs could fold
GENEVA » Soccer faces losing many clubs to bankruptcy because of the coronavirus pandemic.
A slowdown in the multibillion dollar transfer market, and possible defaults on payments from player deals made before the shutdown, were cited as concerns in a debate hosted by a FIFAbacked research center on May 13.
“I think the biggest threat to club football in the coming six months is going to be the survival of smaller clubs,” Lokomotiva Zagreb director Dennis Gudasic said.
Gudasic warned of a “drastic situation whereby we have maybe 100, or 200 clubs go bankrupt in September or October” if challenges facing smaller clubs are not understood.
Clubs across Europe have been denied commercial revenue with no games in most countries for at least two months, and only fanfree games in empty stadiums likely for months ahead.
Back in March, European Club Association (ECA) leader Andrea Agnelli predicted clubs faced “an existential threat.” The Juventus president described the coronavirus outbreak as “the biggest challenge our game and industry has ever faced.”
Now, many clubs are looking for richer leagues to complete their seasons so that money paid by broadcasters for fulfilling contracts can revive the transfer market.
“This is where there is a lot of uncertainty,” Gudasic said, adding some clubs in Croatia in terms of budgeting had become “actually addicted” to transfer revenue from their former players.
His comments came in an online panel discussion hosted by the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) at the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland.
Clubs could go bankrupt waiting for installments due from player deals made in the past two years, university academic Raffaele Poli cautioned.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. » It will be a summer in the South for NASCAR: The stock car series announced May 14 it will stick to Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Florida and Alabama for June races — all of them without fans.
NASCAR has now set plans for 20 races — including nine in the elite Cup Series — as it returns to the tracks after being shut down for more than two months by concerns about the coronavirus.
The Cup Series is scheduled to resume May 17 at Darlington Raceway and run four times in 11 days at the South Carolina track and at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
Then NASCAR will go to Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee on May 31. The track is roughly three hours’ driving distance for most of the Charlotte-area based teams. Some drivers could fly privately to the track via helicopter.
NASCAR will then race at Atlanta Motor Speedway with the Truck Series and Xfinity Series on June 6 and the Cup Series on June 7. The track in Hampton, Georgia, is at least a four-hour drive and teams could need hotels.
The Cup Series will race for a third time on a Wednesday night at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia
The Associated Press
on June 10.
Then all three national series will run together and require air travel with two full days at Homestead-Miami Speedway in South Florida. The Truck Series and Xfinity Series will race June 13, then the Xfinity Series will run again on June 14 in a warm-up for the Cup Series.
NASCAR will then go to to Talladega Superspeedway with the ARCA Series and the Xfinity Series racing June 20 and Cup on June 21. The teams can drive to the Alabama speedway but many might use hotels.
NASCAR postponed events at Kansas Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, the Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio and the Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The Xfinity race at Iowa Speedway scheduled for June 13 has been moved to Homestead on June 14.