FIFA estimate football has lost over £11 billion to Covid-19

That's a lot lot money

The footballing world has lost approximately £11.1 billion due to the coronavirus pandemic, analysis carried out by FIFA suggests. 150 of FIFA's 211 member associates were so badly hit by the financial implications of the pandemic that they applied to the governing body for emergency grants. Football's global governing body announced $1.5bn programme in grants and loans to help out its associates struggling to deal with the hiatus caused by the pandemic. “It’s a huge number and it covers the football economy in its entirety,” said Olli Rehn, the chairman of the FIFA Covid-19 Relief Plan Steering Committee. “It cannot be an exact figure, but it is an estimate of losses in 211 member associations.” While more money has been lost in the European game, it is understood that Brazil, and the wider footballing world in Latin America, have been more seriously affected. “If you look at the breakdown of losses in absolute and relative terms, European clubs and member associations were most impacted in absolute figures,” he said. “But relatively those outside Europe have struggled more, especially in Latin America, mainly as a result of revenue mix and season timing. Smaller countries that are dependent on Fifa will actually be hit least.” Rehn, a former European commissioner and head of the bank of Finland, said: “The loss under any scenario was too great for Fifa to mitigate alone. We are working very intensively with confederations to improve the situation.”