By Andrew Warshaw at the Leaders in Football Conference in London
October 6 – Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis insists the ailing North London club will be able to cope financially without qualifying for the Champions League.
Speaking here today at the Leaders in Football conference in London on UEFA’s financial fair play rules, Gazidis said that it would be “foolish” for any club to rely solely on revenue from Europe’s premier club tournament.
Arsenal earned €30 million (£26 million/$40 million) for reaching the last 16 last season but are currently 15th in the Premier League – their worst start for 58 years – after losing four of their opening seven league matches of the season, throwing into doubt their chances of finishing in the top four for the 15th consecutive time.
“We would rather qualify for it but we have a really sustainable model that can cope without it,” said Gazidis.
“It would be very foolish to build a business model that relied on being in the Champions League for perpetuity and I don’t think any clubs do that.
“If they do, then they probably aren’t being run as responsibly as they should be.”
Gazidis privately hopes UEFA’s fair play rules will bring about a broader base of ownership long-term rather than just a handful of clubs having the wherewithal to invest heavily.
“Every club has the temptation to think that money is the answer to issues and ‘if we only spend just a little bit more, it would push us over the top of a curve’ and that is what drives the cycle of spending that you see in the game and that is not by any means always what is successful, actually,” he said.
“It is tempting to think that it is.
“It relieves pressure for a while but actually builds long-term pressure in other ways.
“We will continue to act with discipline to make sure we have got a good short-term and long-term future.”
Despite a highly profitable state-of-the-art stadium, Arsenal have been criticised for being over-prudent when it comes to buying players.
But Gazidis countered: “We have a very sophisticated business model that looks at what we need to do to compete today and what we need to do to compete next year and five years from now.
“I’m comfortable we will be able to be competitive in whatever environment is created.
“We are not looking for credit for being a self-sustaining club [but] it gives us stability and the ability to look forward with confidence without worrying too much about the ups and downs, the competitive cycle or the economic cycle.”
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