Deulofeu: “This crisis does not catch Barça at its best”

The coronavirus pandemic is having and will have serious consequences for practically all economic sectors. Of course, soccer will also be one of them. In the particular case of Barça, the economist Albert Deulofeu reminded EFE that precisely the coronavirus crisis “does not catch him at his best economic moment”.

“Taking into account the debt he has (553 million euros according to Enrique Tombas, vice president of the Barça club) it will not be easy to reverse the extraordinary losses that are coming his way”, he assures.

Anyway, the economist of the candidacy of Toni Freixa to the Barça presidency in the 2015 elections is “I am sure that Barça will push forward in the same way that during its history it has overcome much more complicated situations.”

The first level sports entities have insurance for multiple circumstances. “But insurance companies cannot bear losses due to force majeure. An epidemic, such as a hurricane or tsunami, is not within the reach of insurance companies.”Deulofeu explained.

In this sense, last Tuesday Josep Maria Bartomeu announced that he would play behind closed doors (the match had not yet been suspended) on Barça-Naples of the round of 16 of the Champions It would mean a loss of 6 million euros for the Catalan club.

But this circumstance is trivial next to the economic consequences that there will be if all competitions are permanently suspended.

On Thursday LaLiga exposed a study in which the losses rise to practically 700 million euros (specifically, 678.4) if this happens.

The source of income for the clubs that would be most diminished would be that of television rights, with 549 million euros that would escape. The rest would belong to the fertilizers (88 million) and to the ticket offices (41.4 million).

The indirect losses of a sector, professional football, which involves 1.37% of Spanish GDP.

In these circumstances, the clubs of the First division Spanish have adapted various positions. While the Eibar decided to return the proportional part of the payment of the matches to the Real society (disputed last Tuesday behind closed doors) and the Athletic Club (currently suspended), Barça informed its subscribers that it would not return the proportional part of the payment of the matches that were played behind closed doors (when Josep Vives, its spokesman, appeared on Wednesday, LaLiga had not yet been suspended for 15 days ).

“Barça have had an insurance policy for years, for example, in case it is eliminated before the quarterfinals in the Champions League. Like other clubs they have other similar ones in case they do not meet the income forecasts, just like large companies”Deulofeu said. “But, in this case, we are talking about an interruption of activity. The income will decrease substantially and, instead, the fixed costs will have to continue to be assumed”he added.

Thus, everything is in the air and the clubs are at the expense of the provisions that the administrations will apply in the form of aid, deferral of the payment of taxes, among others.

“If they are not enough, ERTE (Temporary Employment Regulation Files) may take place”, warns the Catalan economist. Be that as it may, it ensures that there will be “A serious decrease in the expected results and those who will emerge before the adverse situation will be the clubs that have been economically healthy.”