European Football After COVID-19

Citation

Reade JJ & Singleton C (2020) European Football After COVID-19. In: Billio M & Varotto S (eds.) A New World Post COVID-19: Lessons for Business, the Finance Industry and Policy Makers. Venice: Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari. https://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-442-4/028

Abstract
The European football industry has suffered an unprecedented shock from COVID-19. In this chapter, we reflect on how the sport’s administrators responded to the initial outbreaks and what lessons can be learned. We also look ahead to what football in the post-COVID-19 era could look like. We conclude that this largely depends on the decisions now facing the sport’s administrators and the powerful owners of the biggest football clubs: will they prioritise football as the inclusive and diverse game, at the heart of local communities? Or will their intrinsic financial interests dominate?

Keywords
Sports Finance; Sports Economics; Sports Management; Soccer; Coronavirus