sport 쐽 THE STRAITS TIMES FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21 2008 PAGE D3
More improvements planned for YOG venues
BY LEONARD LIM
DESPITE the gloomy world economy, a
bright spot is looming on the horizon for
Singapore sports.
The Government is understood to be
considering more upgrades and changes
to the various Youth Olympic Games com-
petition venues – improvements that will
bring these sports facilities a notch closer
to internationally accepted standards.
It is understood organisers are keen to
reiterate their commitment to the inaugu-
ral event for athletes aged between 14 and
18, despite the worsening economic out-
look.
But the real winners will be sports en-
thusiasts who will inherit these high-qual-
ity public facilities after the August 2010
multi-sport event.
Some of the areas being looked at for
Go figure
£2.5 billion (S$5.7 billion) in debt
The Primera Liga’s estimated debt. It is
nearly as high as the £3b of the English
Premier League, which has a higher turnover.
£0.9 billion income
The Spanish Primera Liga’s total revenue in
2006-07 (Real Madrid £236.2m, Barcelona
£195.3m and Valencia £72.4m alone account
for 56% of it). The comparative figures are
England (£1.5b), Germany (£0.9b), Italy
(£0.8b) and France (£0.7b).
10-15% drop in income
Estimated percentage drop in the Liga’s
revenue owing to the recession.
6 Spanish clubs already in administration
At least six clubs, including second-tier sides
Sociedad, Celta Vigo and Levante, are in
administration. More may follow.
2 clubs relatively unscathed
Real Madrid and Barcelona are largely
insulated owing to existing sponsorship and
broadcast contracts. They will receive at
least £94.2m a season from broadcast
contracts with Mediapro until 2012-13.
Old-timer Jesus Arrizabalaga encouraging his
club, Athletic Bilbao, in a match against
Barcelona. The top teams in the Primera Liga
may not feel the heat as much as there are
always companies that want to use them to
drive their advertising campaigns. PHOTO:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE PAIN IN SPAIN
Small, mid-sized clubs
in trouble as nation
slides towards recession
MADRID: Spain may boast the world’s
No. 1 international team and the richest
club but the football-obsessed nation is
sliding towards its first recession in 15
years, with many small and mid-sized
clubs tumbling into the red.
Dwindling revenue from advertising
and sponsorship, declining stadium at-
tendances and a slowdown in consumer
spending are threatening to tip more
clubs into administration as they struggle
to meet soaring transfer fees and wage
bills.
Real Madrid and Barcelona, the wealth-
iest and third-richest clubs in the world
with television and sponsorship deals
worth hundreds of millions of euros, are
largely insulated from the financial crisis.
But lower down the league, at least six
clubs, including Real Sociedad, Celta Vi-
go and Levante, are in administration.
More may follow as the recession takes
hold.
How top European leagues are hit
The impact of the global financial crisis
on football clubs in top European leagues
ENGLAND
쐽 The Premier League is in the second year
of a £1.7 billion (S$3.8 billion) three-season
broadcasting deal, meaning the finances of
the 20 clubs in the top division are largely
insulated against the financial crisis.
쐽 Unlike in Spain, where top clubs can ask
for more broadcasting revenue than also-
rans, all 20 EPL clubs cash in. Fifty per cent
of the TV deal is split between the clubs, 25
per cent is based on league position and
another 25 per cent on TV appearances.
쐽 Abu Dhabi’s takeover of Manchester City
poured millions into an English game already
awash with foreign cash.
쐽 However, the situation is not all rosy.
West Ham have lost their shirt sponsor.
Owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson is also
considering selling his assets after Iceland’s
banking system went into meltdown.
improvement include the addition of
more permanent seats at YOG venues,
and the speeding up of the construction
of a dedicated hockey stadium in Seng-
kang.
Hockey was to be staged at the ageing
17-year-old Delta pitch, but may now be
moved to Sengkang.
Bishan Stadium is another venue that
will be spruced up. The 3,000-seater, set
to host athletics and football, was initial-
ly supposed to get a resurfaced running
track and 7,000 temporary seats.
Now, these seats could be made perma-
nent instead, boosting the 10-year-old
stadium’s capacity for S-League matches
and other events.
So far, one confirmed change is the
new artificial turf the Jalan Besar Stadium
will get.
The new turf, which will be laid next
“The financial situation of many of the
clubs is critical,” said Angel Barajas, an
expert on the finances of Spanish football
clubs at the University of Vigo.
“I am really afraid about football be-
cause the situation is not sustainable in
the medium term.”
The figures make grim reading.
Spain’s professional football clubs have a
combined debt of 607 million euros
(S$1.15 billion) to the tax authorities
alone, the government said in July.
On top of that comes cash owed to the
social security system as well as other
debts to the public purse, the volume of
which the government said it was not al-
lowed to divulge.
According to an estimate in the Span-
ish media, the combined debt of Spanish
clubs is about 3 billion euros compared
with some £3 billion (S$6.7 billion) in the
English Premier League.
Javier Tebas, a vice-president of the
Spanish football league, admitted that he
was worried about the financial situation,
especially in the second division.
He predicted income from advertising
and sponsorship would be most affected
by the recession and estimated a drop in
revenue of 10 to 15 per cent.
FRANCE
쐽 The French Ligue has kept clubs under
strict financial surveillance.
쐽 Champions Lyon are the only club listed
on the stock market. They have lost almost
half their market value since US bank
Lehman Brothers folded in September. But
they are still going ahead with a plan to
build a 62,000-seat stadium by 2013.
쐽 Ligue 1 TV rights were sold earlier this
year in a four-year collective deal.
쐽 The slight drop in attendances this
season is due to popular club Lens’
relegation to Ligue 2.
GERMANY
쐽 Top German clubs, including Bayern
Munich, have become the most profitable in
Europe, overtaking even the EPL.
쐽 The profitability reflects clubs’ ability to
keep players’ salaries under control. English
쏆
“In these tough times... we
want to demonstrate to the IOC
our commitment to stage a
memorable YOG.”
MR TEO SER LUCK, Senior
Parliamentary Secretary (MCYS)
year, will be of a higher grade. It will al-
low the ball’s bounce and roll to resemble
that on real grass more closely.
These improvements were not in the
original plans submitted to the Interna-
tional Olympic Committee (IOC) when
the Republic put in its YOG bid last year.
They arose over the past few months.
Ever since Singapore was awarded the
Games’ hosting rights over Moscow in
“The situation is worse than last year.
It’s more difficult to find sponsors and
much more difficult to find companies
who will advertise on TV,” he said.
“The ones most at risk from the crisis
are the small and mid-sized clubs. Their
income is going to be significantly re-
duced.
“I don’t see the big clubs being affect-
ed so much as there are always important
companies that want to use them to drive
their advertising campaigns.”
Some clubs have tried to generate cash
by selling real estate but the collapse of
Spain’s housing market and the woes of
the construction sector are choking off
that source of funding.
Barajas also noted that rules on volun-
tary insolvency can be quite convenient
for football clubs as officials are able to re-
tain control as long as they present a busi-
ness plan acceptable to court-appointed
administrators.
However, the government has been ir-
ritated by the actions of some club offi-
cials, whom it accuses of abusing insol-
vency legislation by failing to rein in
spending.
Jaime Lissavetzky, Spain’s secretary of
state for sport, said at the weekend that
football clubs are going through a diffi-
clubs spend about two-thirds of their
revenue on players’ salaries, while German
clubs allocate about 45 per cent.
쐽 A law prohibits any individual from owning
a controlling stake in any club.
ITALY
쐽 Income from TV rights is the financial
backbone of Italian clubs.
쐽 Current contracts expire in 2010, when
the rights will be sold collectively by the
Lega Calcio as opposed to each club
negotiating separately as is the case now.
쐽 Sponsorship for clubs has suffered, with
Lazio and Palermo among those without
logos on their shirts.
쐽 Falling attendances and old stadiums
continue to pose problems and leading clubs
fret about future TV deals, with Italian
football no longer selling as well abroad as
Spanish and English matches.
REUTERS
February, the IOC and international feder-
ations governing the respective sports
have urged organisers to do more to
spruce up some venues, some of which
are more than 20 years old.
“In these tough times, people may be
worried if we can still deliver,” said Sen-
ior Parliamentary Secretary (Community
Development, Youth and Sports) Teo Ser
Luck yesterday.
“But we want to demonstrate to the
IOC our commitment to stage a memora-
ble YOG.”
Under the initial plans, about
US$6.87 million (S$10.5 million) of the to-
tal US$75 million budget was to be allocat-
ed for upgrading works at the 18 existing
venues. The figure is set to increase.
Mr Teo noted: “While staying pru-
dent, we’ll do what is needed to meet the
specifications and will not compromise
on quality.”
cult period and the increase in the debt is
a worrying issue.
He said: “If debts continue to mount
even after having been wiped out, if insol-
vency rules continue to be abused as a
stop-gap measure and expenses are not
brought under control, you could call it a
complicated moment.”
Falling stadium attendances have also
become an issue in Spain.
Barcelona have already reduced prices
of tickets for some matches, notably a
King’s Cup tie this month against
third-tier side Benidorm.
“Attendance at the stadium is down
compared with last year owing to the glo-
bal financial crisis,” Barca president Joan
Laporta admitted.
Tebas said it was important for Spain
to retain its financial credibility so that
clubs would be able to compete in the glo-
bal transfer market. Spending by Spain’s
Primera Liga and Italy’s Serie A clubs
combined in the close season was about
half the £500 million splurged by English
Premier League clubs.
“If we are not careful, it will be more
difficult to attract top players from other
leagues because there will be doubts over
the payment of wages,” Tebas said.
REUTERS
GLOBALWOES
2012 Olympics
COST–CUTTING is the latest
byword for the Olympics’
organisers, with plans for a £40
million (S$92 million) temporary
badminton venue the latest to be
scrapped.
The turmoil in the financial
markets has also been disastrous
for a privately financed Olympic
village and media centre.
The money will come from the
government, which means the cost
for hosting the games could swell
to more than £9.3 billion, reported
The Telegraph.
There was further evidence of
the hardening economic climate for
the Olympic movement with news
that Johnson and Johnson has
decided not to renew its £67
million contract as an IOC sponsor.
World Cup 2010
SOUTH Africa faces a funding
shortfall for the 2010 football
World Cup and the financial crisis
has raised doubts about “whether
the fans will have money to travel
and come and support their
teams”, said Danny Jordaan, the
head of the local organisers.
Durban is short of about 674
million rand (S$100 million) to
complete the construction of its
stadium. Cape Town has said it
needs about 658 million rand, for
example.
Tennis
THE BNP Paribas Masters tennis
event in Paris lost a sponsor
because of the credit crunch, while
the Dutch Open was sold to the
family of Australian Open winner
Novak Djokovic after it failed to
find a new sponsor.
Golf
THE LPGA is cutting its
tournaments from 34 to 31 next
season and slashing its official
prize money from a little more
than US$60 million (S$90 million)
to US$55 million.
The PGA is also set to feel a
brake on sponsorship spending by
giant car-makers General Motors,
Chrysler and Ford.
Annika Sorenstam, the top
earner in women’s golf history
with US$22 million in prize money,
revealed that the financial crisis is
eroding her investments.
(From left) SPGA vice-president Dean Tan,
golfer Poh Eng Teck and SPGA president
M. Murugiah at the cheque presentation
yesterday. ST PHOTO: ALBERT SIM
Poh’s $18k gesture
TIMES may be hard but that did not stop
professional golfer Poh Eng Teck from do-
nating $18,000 yesterday towards the
prize purse for a golf tournament.
The money will go to the Singapore
Professional Golfers’ Association
Vice-President’s Cup at the Tering Bay
Golf and Country Club.
The Nov 25-27 event at the Batam re-
sort will have a $33,000 prize purse and
is the last of eight SPGA-organised
events for the year.
Singapore No. 2 Lam Chih Bing, Unho
Park, Zaw Moe and Goh Kun Yang have
all confirmed their participation.