Premier League clubs are bleeding money and their finances are entering ‘uncharted waters’ if the season is not finished, Steve Parish said on Sunday.
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish said that if the suspended Premier League season doesn’t resume, clubs will be drained dry of their finances. Professional soccer has been suspended since mid-march due to the coronavirus outbreak which has managed to kill at least 28 100 people in the United Kingdom and it seems like the League is no closer to return after the meeting with the 20 clubs on Friday.
Due to the loss of revenue, clubs have furloughed their employees while others have agreed to a wage cut with their players.
Parish said that he was certainly convinced that the proposals laid out for the restart would protect players, staff, and the officials and that the financial predicament of clubs across the country was a factor that couldn’t be ignored when making a decision to return.
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“We should all care about the money. I’ll tell you why. Nobody wins if the Premier League receives less money,” Parish wrote in a column for the Sunday Times.
“We already facing losses no one can quantify – and if we don’t finish the season we are entering uncharted waters.”
“Football is one for the most efficient tax-generating industries in Britain… Overall we pay about £3.3 billion in tax every year and it is the Premier League that largely funds the whole football pyramid.”
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Javier Tebas, La Liga chief said not finishing the season would lead to collective losses of up to one billion euros and that football was an “economic engine” that had to be reactivated.
Parish said he agreed with Tebas and said it was time to contemplate if it was possible to return, even if it meant playing at neutral venues without fans in attendance.
“Football is just another industry trying to get back to work… However we do it, and whenever we do it, football cannot return the same,” Parish added.
“As Tebas observed: if important economic sectors cannot restart, in a safe and controlled manner, they could end up disappearing. That could happen to professional football.”
