Dutch bank healthy €6.8m but miss out on Euro2016 upside

KNVB Campus

By Samindra Kunti
November 3 – The Dutch FA KNVB made a profit of €6.8 million during the 2014/15 season. Holland’s absence at Euro2016 will not threaten the financial health of the organisation but will impact future investment.

Last year The Netherlands finished third at the 2014 FIFA World Cup under the guidance of Lous Van Gaal, the current coach of Manchester United. The Dutch fell in the semi-finals against Argentina.

The profit from the successful campaign added up to €4 million, the lion’s share of the €4.8 million profit in Dutch professional football, excluding the €2.5 million Dutch clubs receive for the organisation of the league.

“We have a robust financial policy,” said KNVB financial director Ron Francis. “This means that we always budget for the financially least attractive scenario and that is missing out on a big tournament. That way we avoid financial risks. Because we didn’t budget the revenue from the 2014 World Cup, we can now invest it directly back into football.”

It implies that the KNVB will not be adversely affected by Holland’s failure to qualify for next year’s Euro2016 in France after a painful qualifying campaign culminated in a lacklustre 2-3 defeat at home to the Czech Republic. However, the impact of the failure to qualify will mean that the Dutch will miss out on the revenue potential of the Euros and a potential cycle of profit reinvestment will be missed.

The amateur division of the KNVB made a profit of €2 million, in no large part due to structural reforms at the amateur level and layoffs with the KNVB administration.

The Dutch FA plans to invest €3 million in the KNVB Campus at the headquarters in Zeist, southeast of Amsterdam, to improve the facilities for training sessions, education and research.

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