Premier League needs Championship to keep the mystery alive, claims Mehmet Dalman
Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman believes that the Premier League needs the Championship to survive and that the top tier needs to help the lower leagues. The global pandemic has caused a serious financial crisis for the English football pyramid with many clubs on the verge of bankruptcy.
The Premier League’s restart plan has caused concerns because of how badly it has been executed with the league under serious criticism. Their neutral venue plan has been a primary concern with few others concerned about a premature restart. But there has been no such plan revealed for the Championship as of yet with them also looking at a restart. But the Championship, and those below, are set to face serious financial issues as EFL Chairman Rick Parry even admitted that EFL clubs face “a £200 million hole” by September.
The problem has been wide-spread for quite some-time with the league reportedly in collective losses even before the lockdown. Yet Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman has admitted that only the Premier League can solve the crisis with both leagues intrinsically linked. He also added that it's absurd to end the season especially with clubs like Leeds United and West Brom having spent a lot of money to get promoted.
“The Championship has always been an investment for owners trying to chase the holy grail of promotion, knowing if they fail they would be suffering financially. I can name you clubs like Derby who have spent a fortune and now are running into difficulties. The idea we will not finish the league [proposals for curtailing the season will be discussed by the EFL board on Wednesday] is absurd as that would leave clubs like Leeds and West Brom in a difficult position because they have invested a lot to get the promotion spot,” Dalman told the Times.
“Not finishing the season — even if it’s in September or October and even if you scrap next season to do so — would be a travesty. If you actually think about it, the Premier League attracts the biggest amount of money in the game of football on a global basis and one of the reasons is that it is not just exciting in terms of who is going to win the title and get the European places, but also the relegation battle.
“The Premier League, without relegation, would not be so exciting and the Championship makes a huge contribution to promotion and relegation. Why is it therefore that the Premier League does not give some of the television money to the Championship? They’re sitting on, what, £1.5bn of cash [the top flight’s reserves according to latest financial results]. Give 20 per cent of that. If you distribute that on an even basis throughout the Championship the whole financial position changes. It’s £12.5m per club which is roughly what we’re all burning [in excess outgoings on wages]," he added.