Arsenal CEO Doesn’t Believe Champions League is a Must for Finances

Ivan Gazidis, capsule Arsenal Chief Executive Officer, believes the English Premier League team’s finances can survive not qualifying for the Champions League.

The Gunners have appeared in Europe’s top elite competition for 14 straight seasons, but are off to their worst start to a season since 1953 after losing four of their opening seven Premier League matches.

That run, which includes a 8-2 defeat at Manchester United, has led to fears among fans  that the club will not reach the top four in the Premier League to qualify for the Champions League. Arsenal got 30 million euros ($40 million) in prize money after reaching the round of 16 last season.

Arsenal last month announced its fiscal-year profit fell 79 percent to 13 million pounds ($20 million) as the club sold fewer apartments at its former stadium and paid more to its players. Revenue declined by a third to 255.7 million pounds, while its debt was reduced by 28 percent to 97.8 million pounds.

“We would rather qualify for it,” Gazidis told reporters at the Leaders in Football conference in London. If the club doesn’t qualify, “we have got a really stable model that could not just cope but do well and compete.”

“It would be very foolish to build a business model that relied on being in the Champions League for perpetuity. I don’t think any clubs do that, and if they do then they probably aren’t being run as responsibly as they should be.”