Covid-19/Arsenal FC: club to be given £120m (€133m) loan from UK government

Arsenal FC (Premier League) is taking out a £120m (€133m) loan as part of a "Covid Corporate Financing Facility" (CCFF) granted by the government, announced the English club on 07/01/2020.

Launched by the government in response to the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the CCFF is a lending facility open to large, financially healthy companies that make a significant contribution to the UK economy (see below). While it is similar to the state-guaranteed loan (PGE) set up in France, it differs from the latter in that the money is lent directly by the government to companies via the Bank of England (the UK's central bank).

The loan will "partially assist in managing the impact of the revenue losses attributable to the pandemic. This is a similar approach to that taken by a wide variety of major organisations across many industries including sport. The CCFF is in addition to the loan provided by our owners Kroenke, Sports & Entertainment that enabled us to refinance the debt on Emirates Stadium (60,260 capacity) in August last year," said Arsenal FC.