Chelsea Football Club made a loss of £65.7 million in the financial year to the end of June 2008.
The BBC reports that the loss includes £23 million in competition paid to sacked managers Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant, and five coaches who also left the club during the year. The cost of sacking Luis Felipe Scolari this week is not included.
The BBC says that the loss will be borne by Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich, who has recently changed part of his £710 million investment in the club from an interest-free loan into shares, in a bid to deflect European criticism about the size of Chelsea’s debt. The club is also hoping to cover any player purchase costs this summer by selling existing squad members. The BBC says it has reiterated its intention “to require zero cash funding from the owner at the beginning of the financial year2009-10.”
The latest reported loss compares favourably to previous losses of £74m in 2007-08, £80.2m in 2006-07, and a record £140m in 2004-05.
