Just six Dutch prof football clubs are in good financial health, says KNVB

Tuesday 01 June 2010

Dutch professional football clubs booked a combined loss of almost €90m this season and only six of the 37 are financially totally healthy, according to football association figures.

Fourteen clubs are in acute financial difficulty, the KNVB said.

Haarlem and Veendam, both first division sides, have already been declared bankrupt this season. Premier division side Willem II and first division club MVV have been bailed out by their local councils.

'The sector is well aware that the situation is not exactly rosy,' football association chief Henk Kesler was quoted as saying by the Volkskrant.

Future

He declined to say which clubs were on the danger list but said the break-down would be published at the start of the next season.

'That will make the status and financial situation of a club more transparent. Supporters, sponsors and others should and must know how a club is positioned financially,' the AD quoted him as saying.

Kesler called for a new realism in football, and said it had to be accepted that some clubs will disappear.

16 sides

Kesler said he could imagine there being just 16 clubs in each division within a few years.

At the start of the 2009/2010 season, the Netherlands had 38 professional football clubs, 18 in the premier division and 20 in the first division. In particular, it called for action on players salaries.

Earlier this year a KNVB commission drew up a string of recommendations to improve football's finances.

Should local government bail out football clubs? Take part in our poll

© DutchNews.nl

Comments have been closed for this article.