October 20 – The Covid pandemic has forced UEFA to reduce Champions League and Europa League prize money. The cut will be spread over the next five seasons.
A Times report says UEFA has written to member associations saying that they lost £514 million following the reduction in both television and sponsorship income as a result of lost matches in the knockout stages last season.
The two UEFA club competition knockout stages were completed behind closed doors at neutral locations with ties reduced to a single fixture instead of the usual home-away format. That reduction in matches triggered renegotiations with commercial partners.
Last season UEFA had set aside €1.95 billion for the 32 teams in the Champions League group stage.
UEFA said that the loss was 22% of the total prize fund for the two competition which would have been £2.31 billion – £1.85 billion goes to the Champions League.
The report added that English clubs can expect to see TV and prize money drop by about 4%. Man City who would have earned £88 million will instead receive £84.5 million.
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