Leagues face Coronavirus dilemmas

Both the EFL and the Premier League are meeting this morning to consider their response to the Coronavirus crisis. Reports are circulating that the EFL may suspend matches for three weeks. In the Premier League, Arsenal and Chelsea will not be able to carry out their forthcoming fixtures.

The expert view appears to be that transmission is relatively unlikely in a large outdoor gathering like a football match, although travel by public transport to the match could be an issue. Gatherings of more than 500 have been banned in Scotland from Monday because of the demands they place on emergency services.

There has been concern that fans could gather outside stadiums where games were being played behind closed doors as happened at Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League game this week. It would be difficult to stop Liverpool fans congregating outside Anfield if their team was winning the title inside the stadium.

La Liga postponed its competition yesterday after Real Madrid players were placed in quarantine. Italy's Serie has been suspended, while games in the Bundesliga and France's Ligue One are being played in front of empty stadiums.

Premier League clubs made £720m in annual match day sales last season according to Deloitte. Most Premier League clubs have insurance policies against loss of ticketing income.

The Premier League has so far been resistant to calls for live free screening of matches that kick off at the traditional time of 3pm on Saturdays. Sky and BT Sport pay more than £1.3bn each year to be live broadcasters with each match costing up to £9m.

Sky could broadcast free to air using its Freeview Pick and Challenge channels. BT could broadcast over its app or on YouTube.

Cancellation of the Premier League season would lead to substantial financial and legal issues about relegation and Champions League qualifications. 14 out of 20 teams would have to vote in favour of any changes to the rule book. One suggestion is that if Uefa postpones the Euro 2020 competition until next year, as seems likely, the Premier League fixtures could be completed in early summer.

How non-league matches would be affected is unclear, but many attract crowds of more than 500 if that is the criterion. Cash flow problems for non-league clubs could be severe.

Some of the many legal issues raised are discussed here by Brabners: Are clubs prepared?

The Premier League, the EFL and the two women's leagues have agreed to suspend all football, including Academy matches, until at least April 3rd: EFL statement

It's no deal say Spurs insiders over Taiwanese takeover

Senior figures at Tottenham Hotspur insisted on Friday that they had not been informed of any deal to sell Daniel Levy’s stake in the club. A business group, Eight Sports Capital — which is said to include a billionaire Taiwanese financier — claimed that it had an agreement in place to buy a 24.99 per cent stake in ENIC, the club’s majority owners, from Levy, who owns 29.88 per cent. The Times has been told Ng Wing Fai and Brooklyn Earick form part of the group, having both been linked previously to potential takeovers of the Premier League club. The Taiwanese businessman, Richard Tsai, is also said to be part of the consortium. He is reportedly worth £7 billion. Last year Earick, the former DJ and tech entrepreneur, was part of an attempted £4.5 billion takeover, which was “unequivocally rejected” by Spurs. An ENIC spokesperson said: “We can confirm that neither ENIC nor THFC are aware of any sale by Daniel Levy’s Family Trust of its minority stake in ENIC, THFC’...

Reports about Charlton sale exaggerated

Reports have appeared in The Guardian and elsewhere that Charlton has been put up for sale. Richard Cawley is an authoritative local journalist who runs a South London Sport substack site. He reached out to the club yesterday evening to ask for comment on The Guardian’s article. Early indications from the club have been that nothing has changed since the story about them seeking investment, except that it is now a different company doing it. Charlton have since managed to consolidate their place in the Championship, avoiding an instant return to League One, with their women’s side promoted to the WSL, returning to the top flight for the first time since 2007, although staying there is likely to be costly. It would be counter-intuitive for owners Global Football Partners not to progress the club when looking for investment, that the focus remains on driving it forward, that their spend this summer is in line with long-term planning and will see an increase in wages spent on players...

Hull City's 'strange' loan

When football finance guru Kieran Maguire seems flashing lights in a club's loan deal, I become concerned. He is the leading football finance expert in the UK. Hull City have borrowed £55m against their stadium and training ground yet they should get £30m from the Premier League before long. What is going on? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cpwel48y51do

The Political Economy of Football V2

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