Greek Football League Facing Serious Debt Problems

Hit hard by the euro zone crisis, the Greek Football League is facing excessive debts, according to Guillaume Errard of LE FIGARO. The rate of debt throughout the European leagues looks as follows: 40% for German clubs, 129% for English clubs, 156% for Italian Clubs, 246% for Spanish clubs and more than 300% for Greece. According to a report from FIFPro, more than two-thirds of Greek footballers "have not received their salary on time and close to one-third were six months late." The reason is because "the clubs simply don't have any money." Greek Superleague VP Stelios Sfakianakis said, "We don't have any resources at this moment. We approach private enterprises but due to the current economic context, the enterprises also have reduced their budget." Nova TV, the main broadcaster of the league, has not been able to to pay the clubs the money they are owed because of financial reasons. The same is true with sponsors. The banks "don't have the means to come help the teams" (LE FIGARO, 6/22).