July 17 – Newly-promoted VfB Stuttgart’s achievement in getting back to the top flight in Germany has been marred by them becoming the latest cash-strapped Bundesliga club to seek financial aid because of lost matchday revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Stuttgart finished runners-up in Germany’s second division at the end of June to win promotion back to the Bundesliga a year after being relegated.
However, the 2007 German champions are among established names needing help balancing the books.
“During the lockdown phase, we examined all the possibilities for economic stabilisation and… applied for funding in order to secure our liquidity,” said the club’s finance officer Stefan Heim.
“This was one of the measures we took to ensure VfB’s economic survival at a time when nobody could predict when and how things would continue in football.”
Germany’s top clubs are counting the cost of having to play behind closed doors due to the pandemic.
Werder Bremen, who just managed to stay in the Bundesliga after winning the relegation/promotion play-off by the skin of their teeth after a 2-2 draw with Heidenheim in the second leg, have confirmed that they have applied for a loan from the state-owned KfW Bank.
And Schalke 04, who had debts of €198 million euros before the pandemic, recently asked the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for a guarantee to secure a loan, reportedly worth around €40 million.
The Gelsenkirchen-based hugely supported club lost around €2 million of revenue for each of the four home games behind closed doors.
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