The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to cost club football $14bn this year worldwide, around one third of its value, a leading official at global football body Fifa said Wednesday.
Olli Rehn, who heads the Fifa committee set up to tackle the effects of the pandemic, said Fifa, along with financial consultants, had estimated the club game to be worth between $40bn and $45bn worldwide.
He said the figure of $14bn was based on the current scenario, where football is slowly restarting after a three-month hiatus earlier this year, but it would be a "different ball game" if the pandemic did not let up.
Rehn said football in South America had been especially hard hit, while Africa and Asia were also a concern.
Fifa has allocated $1.5bn to help tackle the effects of the pandemic and Rehn said 150 of the 211 member associations had so far applied for funds.
He said, while football was slowly re-awakening, another downturn could not be ruled out.
