Munich - Bayern Munich and Real Madrid officials are
confident their clubs will hold firm against the global economic
crisis.
Bayern's Uli Hoeness and Jose Angel Sanchez of Real Madrid were
quoted in newspapers on Friday as football clubs throughout the world
are worried about the global financial crisis.
Bayern General Manager Uli Hoeness was quoted in Friday's edition
of the Bild newspaper as saying that German football is well-off,
even though income may drop.
'I believe that German football has less to worry about than other
countries,' said Hoeness.
'The big question, however, is if we are moving into a recession
where the advertising spend drops and companies are less inclined
to pay money for sponsorship.'
The German 1974 World Cup winner said that he was concerned for
clubs in some other countries.
'Here and there clubs could go under, but not the big ones.'
'Chelsea, for instance, has its debts with Abramovich, but they
are not in danger because the club belongs to him. There is no bank
involved that can close the club, as long as Abramovich does not
demand his money back.'
'One needs to see if the ice on which everything was built will
last,' he said.
Hoeness said that it was not certain that foreign investors in
English football would continue investing such huge sums after losing
a lot of money on the stock exchange.
'It would be good for competition if clubs in future actually had
to earn the money they spent,' said Hoeness.
He said that he was not concerned about his own club Bayern
Munich, as they were financially 'in a very strong position.'
The crisis has also led to Borussia Dortmund shares plummeting on
the Frankfurt stock exchange, at one stage on Friday being traded as
low as 91.3 cents.
Although they managed to pick up slightly in the course of the day
to 94 cents, they were still valued at only a fraction of the 11
euros (14.82 dollars) they were sold for when the club first listed
eight years ago.
In Madrid meanwhile, general director Sanchez said that the global
economic and financial crisis will not affect the club.
'Real Madrid are in a very good economic and financial situation,'
general director Jose Angel Sanchez told Real Madrid Television on
Friday.
'We are on top of the world club income list, and our income is
constantly increasing,' he added.
'Therefore, I can say that Real Madrid are in a very solid
financial position. We are very well protected from the crisis, in
the medium term.'
Real Madrid's main sponsor, the online betting company bwin, is
not directly affected by the global economic crisis.
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