When it comes to the Schalke guarantee, Laschet pushes around
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This is what Armin Laschet says about a possible guarantee
According to the “Handelsblatt”, FC Schalke 04 is to receive public aid. Accordingly, North Rhine-Westphalia is planning a guarantee for the financially troubled Bundesliga club in the amount of 40 million euros. This is what Prime Minister Armin Laschet says.
FC Schalke is in a precarious situation. A loan is supposed to ensure survival. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia is to vouch for the failure. Prime Minister Laschet is not committed.
Dhe FC Schalke 04 has recently got into financial difficulties due to the Corona crisis. The royal blues asked their fans for help in a begging letter and are probably the first Bundesliga club to introduce a salary cap.
In the future, no player should earn more than 2.5 million euros per season. Measures that are obviously not enough to alleviate the club’s precarious financial situation.
According to information from the “Handelsblatt” and the “Bild”, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia wants to secure a loan from Schalke with a guarantee of between 30 and 40 million. The loan comes from a syndicate of banks. If Schalke could not serve him in the next four years, the public sector would step in.
Sporty, financial, atmospheric – Schalke is currently looking bleak
Credit: dpa / Fabian Strauch
The state finance ministry did not want to comment on the guarantee secret. NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) also relied on the guarantee secret. The 59-year-old was asked about the possible surety for Schalke at a press conference. Laschet pressed around. “The problem is that you can’t even confirm that there is an application at all. I can only say that as far as I know there is no decision, ”said Laschet. He also does not know whether other clubs have special problems due to the pandemic: “This is beyond my knowledge.”
“No Lex Schalke”
In general, however, there have been guarantees for football and sports clubs under each state government since 1995. However, such applications should be treated strictly confidentially and checked. Public speculation is forbidden. “There will certainly be no Lex Schalke,” said Laschet.
NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet
Those: dpa / Federico Gambarini
Schalke reported liabilities of EUR 197 million for the 2019 financial year. The loss of revenue caused by the Corona crisis created additional financial problems. In the coming season, the club will have to forego the income from a European competition because David Wagner’s team experienced a dramatic crash in the second half of the season. Schalke won just one of 17 games and ended the season in twelfth place in the table.
Protests against club boss Tönnies
The dramatic financial and poor sporting situation are not the only construction sites of the district club. During protests last Saturday on the Berger Feld club premises, fans had asked for the retirement of supervisory board chief Clemens Tönnies. He is still under massive pressure as company boss and boss of the Bundesliga team.
Many Schalke fans are calling for Clemens Tönnies to step down
Source: AFP / SASCHA SCHUERMANN
In the main plant of the Tönnies meat group in the district of Gütersloh, well over 1,000 employees were infected with the corona virus. That is why there was fierce criticism of the working conditions in the company. Many Schalke fans are calling for Tönnies to resign from the Royal Blues.
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