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Former EPL and Arsenal legend Arsène Wenger expressed his opinion of how COVID-19 has impacted the sport in an interview with Richard Keys and Andy Gray of beIN Sports. The 70-year-old, currently serving as the Head of Global Development at FIFA, spoke in great detail about the precarious circumstances the sport is up against.
The iconic EPL manager urged football to rethink how to help the lower leagues of England help survive the COVID-19 pandemic. Wenger believes that they are 'dying' and football has to find a way to help them survive.
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The 70-year-old, however, also maintained that the EPL will survive despite the current situation. He commented;
"It is very concerning because we live in a world today which is mainly focused on regrouping the elite and you know well the cases in England. In England, the lower leagues are dying. The Premier League will survive, I don't worry about the Premier League."
The Frenchman discussed the potential losses that football clubs could take amidst the pandemic, particularly the teams from lower leagues of the country. He added;
"You worry more out of the 92 clubs you have 65 clubs that lose money and behind closed doors, if they open up the stadium they lose money to play the game. It is absolutely where football has to rethink, how we can help these clubs to survive. We need an elite but we need a base where young players have a chance to play and where we have to get these people to survive."
EPL veteran Wenger warns football 'could lose £14 billion'
The former EPL manager believes that the pandemic could directly impact several clubs all over Europe. Wenger examined the potential severity of the losses due to the current situation, explaining;
"We calculated that overall football will lose 20% of income, football let’s say can make 45 billion in turnover in the world. The loss will be 10-14 billion that is approximately the amount that football will lose. That means that if you look at the wage structure in most clubs it is between 60-80% of turnover. So that means only the player's wages can sort that problem out."
Wenger also warned that there could come a point where England lose a few clubs altogether due to financial struggles. The EPL legend believes that eventually, there might not be enough money for all clubs to survive due to the sheer number of clubs there are. Wenger added;
"I believe so, there are too many clubs in trouble and there is not enough money there to help them enough to survive. Then you get to a stage where a club with some professional players will not be capable to be professional anymore and we will lose plenty of clubs."
The ongoing pandemic forced the EPL and a vast majority of football leagues all over to suspend all games. Fears regarding the virus outbreak meant that any potential resumption would have to be behind closed doors to avoid masses of fans attending the game.
The EPL was suspended on March 10 with Leicester City's rout of Aston Villa at home. After a three-month absence, English football returns on June 17 under the strict watch of safety protocols.
