The FA obtains a loan of £300m to redirect its investments and reduce Wembley's debt

The FA has obtained a loan of £300m (€402m), provided by Barclays, HSBC and Santander, to redirect its investments and reduce the debt incurred by financing Wembley Stadium (90,000 seats), announced the English football federation on 10/12/2015.

The stadium, re-opened in 2007, was built for at a total cost of £757m (€1.014bn). The new loan will allow the FA -- the stadium owner -- to reduce interest payments by £12m (€16.2m) per year, according to the British daily The Guardian on 11/10/2015. The operating company Wembley National Stadium Limited (a subsidiary of the FA) had generated losses of £7.2m (€8.8m in July 2013) during the 2013 financial year (from 01/01 to 31/07/2013, see explanation below). The loss in 2013, lower than that of 2012 (£7.8m, or about €9.5m), is attributable to the loan taken to rebuild the stadium. The FA paid £12m (€14.7m in July 2013) to repay the loan during the first seven months of 2013. The total amount of bank loans still outstanding then stood at £274m (€334m in July 2013). The new loan is expected to balance the economic model of the stadium and…