FC Porto sports management unit reports ‘record losses’ for 2019/20

FC Porto’s sports management company or SAD had “record losses” in the 2019/20 financial year, €116.1 million, which it blamed on the club’s absence from the Champions League during the season and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Despite the [internal] sporting success, with the conquest of the double [Portuguese League and Cup], something that had not happened for 11 years, the abnormal absence from the Champions League and the events of the last few months had a negative impact,” said its chairman, Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa.

With FC Porto knocked out of the Champions League early on, revenue at the quoted SAD slumped by almost €71 million compared to the previous season, with the club generating €9.9 million against €80.9 million in the 2019/20 season.

The impact of the pandemic, which meant matches for the final few months were played without spectators, resulted in a decrease in ticket sales, membership fees and broadcasting rights, which the club said amounted to around €15 million.

The club’s financial chief, Fernando Gomes, also explained that as the accounts were closed on 30 June – that is, before the end of the league season – not all relevant revenues entered the accounts.

“UEFA determined the closing of accounts for the 2019/20 season in June, so the players sold by FC Porto after that date, for amounts exceeding €100 million, did not enter into the accounts and will only enter the current year,” Gomes said.

Profits from the sale of players’ passes were €551,000, an unusually low figure for the SAD, which on average makes around €40 million per year.

Despite last year’s “record loss”, Gomes said he was convinced that FC Porto will at the end of the current season be able to leave the aegis of the financial ‘fair play’ scheme of UEFA, the governing body for European football, thanks to record profits from the sale of players’ passes.

“We are very likely – under normal conditions [with no pandemic] – to come out of UEFA’s financial fair play this season, despite these results,” Gomes said, recalling the profits already made from player sales, which will only enter the accounts at the end of the current financial year, and the fact that the club is in the Champions League and on its way to the Round of 16.