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Toby Alderweireld, Vincent Janssen, Jan Vertonghen. Our top clubs have attracted several (former) internationals to the Jupiler Pro League in recent years. Alderweireld made Antwerp champions, but his arrival came at a high price. His employer is one of half a dozen clubs responsible for a new record loss of Belgian football clubs. In the 2022-2023 season, the cumulative deficit amounted to 193 million euros. The season before had already been a negative record year with a combined loss of 156 million euros.

The worst student in the class is national champion Antwerp, which records an annual loss of just under 46 million euros. Standard, AA Gent and OH Leuven follow in line with almost 20 million euros in losses. Striking: second division Lommel and Zulte-Waregem are also deeply in the red, with losses of 14.7 and 12.6 million euros respectively. At the other end, Club Brugge is primus inter pares with a profit of 10.9 million euros. Union is the second best with 3 million euros. Barely six professional clubs can provide green figures.

Lorin Parys, the CEO of the Pro League, admits that the figures are worse than expected. “I see three main causes. Firstly, there is the conclusion that salaries are too high. Clubs encourage each other to pay too much for players. Belgian football must sow to the pocket again.”

According to Parys, a second cause is a one-off fine that the professional clubs had to pay to the TV operators because the 2019-2020 corona season was not completed. The rights holders therefore suffered losses and demanded part of their TV money. He sees the third cause as the tax burden on Belgian football, which has increased by 75 million euros in a year and a half.

“It is important to say that a quarter of the clubs are responsible for two-thirds of the loss,” says Parys. A quarter of those clubs include Antwerp, Standard, Ghent and OHL, clubs that have reported large losses in their annual figures in recent months. “The good news is that if we encourage a quarter of the clubs to adopt more rigid financial policies, we should immediately see that in the results next year.”

Soft salary ceiling

Parys also points out two other points of light that should bring relief. “Twelve of the twenty-five clubs have positive equity and all but one meet our standard of making 20 percent improvement every year.”

That one club is KV Oostende, which immediately receives a deduction of one point for not complying with the rules of Financial Fair Play. The point is in addition to the six points that were already deducted before New Year because Ostend was unable to pay creditors.

A second rule that the Pro League has introduced is to maintain a ‘squad spent ratio’ of 70 percent. Clubs may only spend 70 percent of their income on their core players in three years. “That is a soft form of a salary ceiling, intended to contain losses in the long term,” says Parys. “The good news is that 13 clubs already meet that 70 percent criterion. 19 clubs will achieve the target benchmark of 90 percent in 2023 (in 2024 the benchmark will be 80 percent, in 2025 70 percent).”

The many winter sales this season may be an indication that clubs such as Antwerp and Ghent are improving their financial situation, Parys thinks. “We hope to be able to present better results for this season, but it is too early to make predictions,” says the CEO. “You never know what the clubs will do.”