Barca Post 97 Million Euros Loss for 2019-20 due to COVID-19

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Barcelona reported a loss of EUR 97 million (88 million pounds) after tax for the 2019/20 financial year, while a projected estimate of breaking the EUR 1 billion mark in revenues was also scuppered.

In a statement here on Monday, the Catalan club also said that they had made revenue of EUR 855 million, 14 percent down on the 990 million they posted in 2018/19, while their total net debt more than doubled to EUR 488 million, reports Reuters.

The club said 47 million euros of losses was due to the loss of matchday income, 35 million euros due to the reduction of club shop sales and 18 million euros due to stadium tours, with more losses anticipated before fans can return to Spain's stadiums.

Predicted revenue for 2020-21 is 791 million euros.

In order to help combat the shortfall, the players took a pay cut when football was postponed because of the coronavirus.

In the close season, the club also sold players who were on lucrative contracts, such as Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal, in an attempt to secure wage spending under the La Liga rules that explicitly relate to the projected income.

For new coach Ronald Koeman, this also meant a reasonably quiet transfer window, with local media reporting that Olympique Lyonnais' Dutch forward Memphis Depay could only join if they sold Ousmane Dembele, who was linked to Manchester United.