The clubs of the national leagues in basketball, ice hockey and handball do not currently consider an increase in corona aid of 200 million euros to be mandatory. Rather, they see the cap on the maximum amount for a club at 800,000 euros as problematic.
Frankfurt / Man (dpa) – The professional leagues in basketball, ice hockey or handball can initially (survive) live with the 200 million euros in Corona aid.
One problem, however, is the cap on a maximum of 800,000 euros per club. “Especially for the larger leagues and the 3rd football league, which are hit the hardest, the cap is very cumbersome, as the number of failures is considerably higher,” said a statement by the German Ice Hockey League on Wednesday.
If the funds from the state emergency aid were distributed “without a cap to 800,000 euros and only according to the 80 percent principle”, the 200 million euros would be sufficient for the 2020/21 season in the leagues concerned, according to the DEL statement . The aid stipulates that 80 percent of the missing audience income due to the pandemic will be reimbursed from April to December 2020.
The maximum amount per association is restricted by the EU State Aid Regulation. This “still gives room for improvement, but that is the subject of the current negotiations,” said Frank Bohmann, Managing Director of the Handball Bundesliga. An expansion of the approved 200 million euro budget is foreseeable not necessary “if it stays at this upper limit”. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for Corona sports funding, around 55 million euros had flowed to the clubs by last Monday.
Like the DEL clubs – all but one of which have submitted an application – professional handball also makes extensive use of Corona aid. “All the first division and most of the second division have submitted an application,” said Bohmann. The state aid is a building block for all clubs in the calculation in the crisis year 20/21. “Of course, the aid does not solve all problems, but handball is very grateful for this state support,” he emphasized.
An extension of the application deadline, which expired on November 22nd, is necessary. “Against the background of the extension of the ban on viewers, state aid will also be of considerable importance in the coming year,” said Bohmann.
BBL boss Stefan Holz is also satisfied with the current status of Corona aid for professional sports, but also considers an extension of the application deadline to be essential. “Everything is fixed by December 31st, the system works. So far, the clubs have only received positive notices,” said the manager of the Basketball Bundesliga. Around half of the applications have been processed so far. Overall, it is on the right track.
“Fortunately, thanks to the important extension of the application deadline, even more clubs were able to submit applications,” said Alfons Hrmann, President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation. From the DOSB’s point of view, the problems of the clubs in the coming year would probably become more far-reaching. “That is why we are promoting both an extension and an increase and expansion of the Corona aid for professional sport for 2021,” he said.
dpa-infocom, dpa: 201125-99-461217 / 2
To corona aid from the federal government
Corona aid procedure
Information from the DOSB on the coronavirus and measures
