Arsenal take £120 million loan from Bank of England to help offset matchday revenue
Arsenal have been playing behind closed doors for most of this season
|Premier League club Arsenal have taken out a £120 million loan from the Bank of England to help with their COVID-19 affected cashflow, the club has reported. They become the second Premier League club to do so after North London rivals did the same before the start of the current season.
The financial effects of the COVID-19 have been felt across the world with football’s lower league clubs hurting far worse than the bigger sides. However, it has seen the biggest clubs across Europe report losses of around £100 million with Juventus reporting losses of €71 million earlier last year. Not only that, it has seen Premier League sides take loans with Tottenham and the Football Association receiving financial support last year.
Arsenal have confirmed that they have also used the same method as their North London rivals and taken out a £120 million loan from the Bank of England via their COVID Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF). The club confirmed this and ESPN reported that the loan is repayable by May and will, reportedly, be used to offset the lack of matchday income but won’t be used for transfers. The club’s statement reiterated that and also revealed that this is to manage the “the impacts of the revenue losses attributable to the pandemic”.
"As we continue to work through the implications of the global pandemic on our finances, we can confirm today that the club has met the criteria set by the Bank of England for the COVID Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF)," an Arsenal statement said.
"As a result, we are taking a short-term £120m loan through this facility to partially assist in managing the impacts of the revenue losses attributable to the pandemic. This is a similar approach to that taken by a wide variety of major organisations across many industries including sport and is repayable in May 2021."
