Tottenham Hotspur Secure £175m Loan From Bank of England

By Adedapo Adesanya

English football club, Tottenham Hotspur, have secured a £175 million loan from the Bank of England to aid their finances during the coronavirus crisis.

Spurs, as the club is popularly called, are set to miss £200 million of revenue up to June 2021 due to the remainder of league matches to be played behind closed door at their 62,303-capacity stadium and with other events cancelled.

However, the club is eligible for a COVID-19 Corporate Financing Facility, repayable with a 0.5 percent interest rate.

The Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF, the Facility) was instituted by the UK government to provide funding to businesses by purchasing commercial paper of up to one-year maturity, issued by firms making a material contribution to the UK economy.

It will help businesses across a range of sectors to pay wages and suppliers, even while experiencing severe disruption to cashflows.

The facility will offer financing on terms comparable to those prevailing in markets in the period before the COVID-19 economic shock, and is open to firms that demonstrate that they were in sound financial health prior to the shock.

Speaking on this, Chairman of the football outfit, Mr Daniel Levy, said, “We have always run this club on a self-sustaining commercial basis.”

Spurs, who have played in the Champions League for the last four seasons, are currently eighth in the Premier League – seven points behind fourth-placed Chelsea – with nine matches remaining.

“I said as early as 18 March that, in all my 20 years at the club, there have been many hurdles along the way but none of this magnitude – the COVID-19 pandemic has shown itself to be the most serious of them all.

“It is imperative that we now all work together – scientists, technologists, the government and the live events sector – to find a safe way to bring spectators back to sport and entertainment venues.

“Collectively we have the ability to support the development of new technologies to make this possible and to once again experience the passion of fans at live events,” Mr Levy added.