CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BUBBLE BURSTS

With television revenue dropping in domestic leagues all
over Europe, even this showpiece tournament will have to
tighten it’s purse strings.

Aigner said: “We have had a kind of golden phase which is
going now and we have to accept some normalisation. The
income from the Champions League is going to diminish
because of market developments but also because we have
changed the format to have a smaller competition than in the
past.

“Obviously everyone will have to get a smaller share: UEFA,
the clubs and the national associations.”

UEFA’s budget report confirms the extent of the decline in
revenue:

“The most significant downswing concerns the UEFA Champions
League - by 244million Swiss francs (£110million) compared
to the 2002-03 budget.”

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has also registered his concern:

“There is a very worrying situation regarding some of our
television partners, with insolvencies and bankruptcies in
some companies.

“Perhaps there was unreasonable behaviour in our famous
years of bonanza, our golden years. There is a very serious
financial situation in a lot of clubs but also some
associations.”

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