Swiss club football relies on grants in the millions. This is shown by figures published by the league on Friday. Thanks to the Champions League 2021, YB is up a good 15 million. GC, meanwhile, is not looking at the books.
Big words, but don’t open the books: GC President Sky Sun.
On the one hand, the Chinese project of the Grasshopper Club gets good marks. The financiers are solid, wages are paid, and the ship is sailing, at least economically. On the other hand, the people of Zurich are missing out on an opportunity for Chinese demystification these days.
During 9 of the 10 clubs in the Super League metrics publish their balance sheets, GC stands apart – for whatever reason. This has no consequences because the club will not play in Europe next season anyway. But since GC is known to want to stir up European football in the future, sooner or later it will have to publish figures.
At least that is Uefa’s requirement: no European Cup without transparency. Under increasing pressure from the European association, the Swiss league is publishing key figures for the clubs for the first time. In terms of transparency, the Super League in Uefa-Land is “at the bottom of the table”, according to league circles. Things are getting better now – even if GC stays offside, which doesn’t help his battered image.
The federal government pays 67 million corona francs
The figures confirm that, with the exception of YB, Basel and St. Gallen, all clubs are dependent on grants in the millions. Surprisingly, the situation in the aftermath of the pandemic is more stable than before. This has to do with short-time work, with the à-fonds-perdu-contributions from the federal government in the amount of 27 million francs – and with repayable loans. Over 40 million went to 7 applicants from the top football league. That makes 5 to 6 million per club. The question is who will be able to pay for it and when.
Sky Sun is back in Zurich since last week. In our interview, the GC president talks about the current situation, head coach Giorgio Contini and how important the support of the fans is during this period. full-interview: https://t.co/N97hv1Z2G5 #gc #Zurich pic.twitter.com/jjcOi4KENs
— Grasshopper Club Zurich (@GCZurich_EN) April 15, 2022
GC has the problem that the money flows very one-sidedly: no audience, no European Cup, no transfer income – so China pays. Despite the 9 million bonuses from the Conference League and the 8 million à-fonds-perdu from the federal government, FC Basel is making a loss of over 14 million, and the negative balance from player transfers in 2021 also contributes to this.
YB, on the other hand, is up a good CHF 15 million. Not because of transfers, but because of the Champions League, which yielded 32 million in Uefa premiums alone. Such extreme economic levers do not make navigation easy.
Swiss football needs patrons
Some numbers are surprising. Or confirm assumptions. In Sitten (Christian Constantin) and in Lugano (Joe Mansueto) considerable subsidies have to be paid. FC Sion writes over 3 million minus, Lugano over 6 million. The item “Other operating income” is suspicious, where donations from third parties are included. In Servette FC, the amount is estimated at almost 13 million. A large part of this is likely to come from the Rolex Foundation.
Comparing personnel expenses should be treated with caution. For example, while YB and Basel (37 million) include stadium organization, FC Zurich (15.5) does not. Nevertheless: The future master is significantly cheaper than the competition in Bern and Basel. But success costs money: plenty of Champions League bonuses flow into the YB wage bill.
GC will only have to worry about such connections in the golden future. For the time being in Niederhasli (or China) veiling and blacking out is the order of the day. European Cup and openness are for later.