The Things Clubs should know before 31st August 2013

The Things Clubs should know before 31^st August 2013

Airton Risk Management Launches Guide to ‘Soccer’s Best Kept Secret’ at Soccerex

Whilst another TV rights windfall is pressing the issue of Financial Fair Play in football, last August saw a change in FA policy that has the power to minimize risk liabilities in clubs – but very few teams appear to know anything about it.

The ‘Bonus Insurance Schemes’ policy is a significant step for the FA as it opens the way for UK clubs to insure bonuses against positive outcomes meaning, for example, that Liverpool could protect their liability for Suarez performing beyond expectations or QPR won’t be liable for Harry Redknapp’s payday if the team avoids relegation.

Not only do too few clubs know about and understand the power of the policy but fewer still appreciate that it carries a deadline; any indemnities pertaining to player bonuses need to be put in place by clubs in time for the August transfer deadline.

Airton Risk Management, one of sports’ leading risk management services and part of Paddy Power PLC, has created an impartial guide to help clubs understand just what the policy could mean for them and will be launching it at Soccerex’s European Forum in Manchester on 10^th April.

Rod O’Callaghan, Director of Airton Risk Management, explained ‘Football clubs across Europe are facing tougher margins in an extremely hostile economic environment, so we find it amazing that a move as significant and helpful as the Bonus Insurance Scheme should go so far under the radar. The FA has put something of real value in place that clubs would probably take advantage of, if only they knew about it. There is value indemnifying against bonuses as low as £50,000 but to take full advantage of the new policy, clubs should be thinking about what they can do now. The August transfer deadline sounds a distant prospect but clubs need to get their act together to take full advantage of benefits the new policy brings.’

Airton Risk Management will be available for interview and comment at Soccerex on Stand 177

For more information please contact Rebecca Hopkins at ENS (Rebecca@ensltd.com / 020 7934 9032) or Rod O’Callaghan and David Lyons at Airton Risk Management (00 959 1902 1309 / 3)

Editor’s Note: The FA issued the new Bonus Insurance Scheme policy in August 2012, too late for the 2012 transfer window. Despite the FA’s efforts with the Financial Fair Play scheme and the Salary Cost Protocol, the Bonus Insurance Scheme has gone largely unnoticed.  Clubs face an increasingly difficult balancing act with the Premier League’s wages to revenue ration now standing at 70%, operating margins of 3% and a decrease of 26% in TV rights income expected by 2014/5 (source: Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Finance 2012). Additionally, clubs hoping to qualify on-pitch for UEFA tournaments will be expected to comply with its Financial Fair Play scheme.