French football clubs are not insured against Covid-19

France has 40 professional football clubs participating in the L1 and L2 championships. Due to coronavirus, the 2019-2020 season was prematurely shut down at the end of April. PSG, first in the Ligue 1 at that date, has been declared French champion.

Stopping a football championship is a first in France. No such decision has been made in the past. Only postponements of matches were mentioned in the annals. The idea of suspending a competition due to a pandemic or a contagious disease has never crossed people's minds. This is why the risk of cancellation due to an epidemic has not been underwritten. The decision to suspend the championship resulted in a shortfall of 289 million EUR (338 million USD) for French clubs.

For the current 2020-2021 season, the pandemic or similar event would cost professional clubs 250 million EUR (292 million USD) in losses. The latter would be deprived of several sources of income: ticketing, TV broadcasting rights, merchandising, etc.

To avoid such a business interruption, clubs are getting in touch with insurers who refuse, for the time being, to cover the risk of cancellation due to a pandemic. For insurers, the Covid-19 is no longer a risk but a certainty. Yet, insurance only covers the hazard. Any certain risk is excluded. To prevent any disaster, clubs could be encouraged to insure themselves by creating a common insurance captive where they would insure their risks.

Read also | Insurance of sporting events