Report: UEFA release £61m that could help Tottenham amidst COVID-19 pandemic

UEFA have announced that they are set to pay out the money that was due to be handed to clubs releasing players for scheduled international duty, which could come as a massive boost for Premier League clubs like Tottenham.

Much like the vast majority of European clubs, there is a lot of uncertainty around at Tottenham at the moment, owing to the financial impact of the coronavirus shutdown.

Clubs have seen their revenue streams, including matchday and TV revenue, stop abruptly and there is no confirmation yet on if and when the season will resume.

Earlier this month, the Premier League decided to offer clubs part of the prize money that they were due at the end of the season in advance to help them to ease their cash flow concerns (The Times).

Now UEFA have followed suit and done their part in order to help clubs navigate these troubling times by releasing £61.1million in payments that teams were due for releasing their stars on international duty.

Clubs like Tottenham, who have plenty of internationals, would have received money for allowing their players to take part in matches this season, as well as the Euros which were set to take place this summer.

An initial payment for those players used in the qualifiers would normally have been paid after the European Championship play-offs but UEFA have decided to release the funds early to help ailing clubs.

A statement from European football’s governing body, read (as relayed by Football.London): “The UEFA Executive Committee today decided to release immediately the club benefit payments related to the clubs’ contribution to UEFA national team competitions in light of the current crisis and the financial difficulties many clubs are facing across Europe.

“Such payments were originally scheduled to be made on completion of the European Qualifiers play-offs, but given the challenges faced by clubs that are having to meet ongoing financial commitments while seeing revenues dry up during the COVID-19 lockdowns, payments will now be made immediately, as follows:

“€50 million (£43.6million) will go to clubs having released players for the 39 national teams not involved in the European Qualifiers play-offs.

“€17.7million (£15.4million) will go to clubs having released players for the 16 national teams taking part in the European Qualifiers play-offs (not including payments for the play-off matches, which will be paid on completion of the play-offs).

“The balance of €2.7m (£2.3million) – related to players released for the play-offs – will be distributed upon completion of the play-off matches in the autumn.”

“For UEFA EURO 2020, a minimum of €200million (£175million) is available for distribution to clubs as agreed in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between UEFA and the ECA, which was renewed in 2019.

“Based on the payment distribution mechanism approved by the UEFA Executive Committee, €70m will be distributed among those clubs which released players for the European Qualifiers and the UEFA Nations League, and the remaining €130milliom (£113million) will be distributed among those clubs releasing players for UEFA EURO 2020.

“These payments will benefit a very high number of clubs all over Europe and will give them vital breathing room at a critical time. 676 clubs from the 55 UEFA member associations will receive amounts ranging from €3,200 up to €630,000 for their contribution to the European Qualifiers and the UEFA Nations League for the 2018–20 period.

“In all cases, the clubs to benefit from these payments are those with which the players concerned were registered during the relevant release period. Only players released by a club belonging to a UEFA member association are taken into account.”

“The full list of the clubs together with the total amount received by each club will be communicated after the final tournament has been played.”

Spurs Web Opinion

UEFA have received their fair share of criticism over the years and it has certainly been warranted. However, their handling of the COVID-19 crisis cannot be faulted at all as they have been quite proactive in trying to help out struggling clubs. This is another move that will be a huge help, particularly to the smaller teams.

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