Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed the scale of the financial issues facing football, as the game faces huge challenges to bridge the gap caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
And Wenger, who is the chief of global football development for FIFA, has revealed just how big that gap is as a number of leagues attempt to follow Bundesliga's lead in returning to action.
"Look, it is quite simple, I think, overall, the budget of football and the income of football all over the world is about £45billion, he told BeIn Sport.
"And there will be a lack of income of between £10bn-£15bn.
"So, the income of the game will be an issue until at least the end of the season and somewhere, we have to suffer that.
"Is it for the wages/deferred payments? The game, like any other, will suffer."
Speaking about returning to play, the former Gunners boss added: "The medical reason got us confined, the financial reason got us to play again.
"But it is still a better solution than to decide not to play at all and decide on what it is because it is unfair to some teams who have not played the stronger teams, or some teams have already played all the strong teams.
"It's an unfair position for some clubs."
