Schalke admit to needing 'massive savings' to survive
Following the resignation of their billionaire backer, cash-strapped Bundesliga club Schalke admitted Wednesday they must make "massive savings" in order to survive after their struggling finances were further hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
"Today is a turning point for Schalke. There cannot be a continuation of the current situation," admitted board member Alexander Jobst.
Jobst insists "massive savings" must be made, the "stop button" has been pressed in many areas of the club's finances and Schalke's "sporting goals" must be adjusted in the coming seasons.
"In the past months, Schalke 04 has presented a miserable public image," he said, apologising for "mistakes we made which must not happen again in the future".
"We know that we have gambled away trust and scared the fans," he added.
Schalke are one of Germany's biggest clubs, yet even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Europe in March they already had debts of 197 million euros ($220 million), which Jobst warned at the time threatened their existence.
Magazine Kicker has claimed the pandemic would leave a third of the clubs in the country's top two tiers fighting for survival.
When German football restarted behind closed...