The KNVB’s rescue plan for professional football in corona times is increasingly taking shape. Representatives of the clubs, the KNVB, player brokers, unions and employers spoke on Thursday at the initiative of player broker Rob Jansen in Zeist for 2.5 hours about how to deal with professional football during the corona crisis.
“We look at solutions together, not only in a financial sense,” said professional football director Eric Gudde of the KNVB after the consultation. “We have agreed with the minister that we should work together on what the sector itself can do in this crisis. Then there is still a part that we have more problems with to solve that.”
The KNVB is therefore making plans to limit the damage to football as much as possible. The football association previously calculated that this damage could amount to 300 to 400 million euros this year and hopes for a helping hand from The Hague.
Sound plan
In order to get back to playing (initially without an audience) as soon as possible – in any case earlier than the date of 1 September set by the cabinet – and to get any support from the government, the KNVB in The Hague will have a sound plan of approach should present.
The meeting in Zeist was intended for input from other parties involved. “Creative solutions came along,” Gudde noted. “And there was broad support for the agreement that the employers and unions have reached on a collective salary reduction. That is already an important step.”
The emphasis in the plan will be on a wage sacrifice of players, staff and boards, budget discipline at the clubs and creating a safe environment in and around the stadiums for all concerned.
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