FC Aarau wanted to start training the team on Monday, May 11, with a view to the possible resumption of the football championship. Now the club managers have decided to postpone the start of training. “Due to the changed schedule, FC Aarau has decided that the training of the 1st team will not resume as planned on Monday, May 11, 2020. Those responsible will analyze the new situation in detail in the coming days and the new date communicate for the start of training at a later date, “the club said on its homepage.
Possible restart of the championship only on 19/20. June
The changed schedule of the Swiss Football League, which the possible championship restart on the weekend of 19/20. June pushed back is only one reason for this surprising decision. The second, and probably more important, reason for the shift is likely to be finance. The SFL also stated in its media release: “The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) announced without obligation that the clubs could no longer claim short-time work from the moment training started.” So if you train again, you will no longer receive any short-time work compensation. The clubs would feel even more in their already empty coffers. Also FC Aarau.
On request from AZ, Philipp Bonorand, designated FCA president, confirms that financial considerations play a role in postponing the start of the training: “The preliminary announcement by Seco that the right to short-time compensation will lapse as team training begins puts us in a difficult position If the 20 professional clubs decide to end the season on May 29, the effort involved in starting the training would be useless. ” Bonorand, CEO Roland Baumgartner, sports director Sandro Burki and head coach Patrick Rahmen will decide in consultation with the board of directors at the beginning of next week when the FCA will start team training.
This date will not be until the day after the decision to terminate or continue the season – that would be too short given the three weeks of team training required before a possible continuation of the season on June 19. But as close as possible to May 29th – to stay seated at the lowest possible cost in the event of a cancellation.
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—-Philipp Bonorand, Corona crisis manager at FC Aarau, before he took over as club president on May 26.
© Colin Frei
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The new developments have not changed the basic FCA position of wanting to continue the season. “We assume that the resumption of the season will be financially manageable for the FCA despite the fact that short-time work will no longer be necessary. However, we can only form a final opinion when the final costs and revenues of a season continuation are on the table,” said Bonorand. The concrete numbers should emerge in the next few days, at the latest in the week before May 29, the day on which the 20 club representatives will vote at an extraordinary general assembly.
The SFL is still in “constructive talks” with the federal government regarding grants, an agreement is imminent according to AZ information. The SFL said: “These grants are the prerequisite for averting the situation that threatens the very existence of Swiss professional football and for resuming the game.”
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