Despite the record sale of Ardon Jashari, FC Luzern posted a loss of around CHF 2.5 million in its annual accounts for 23/24. President Stefan Wolf comments in an interview with blue Sport.
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- FC Lucerne is once again in the red. In the 2023/24 financial year, the loss amounts to around CHF 2.5 million - despite the record sale of international Ardon Jashari in the summer.
- In an interview with blue Sport, outgoing CEO Stefan Wolf comments on the situation and explains that the club's management is not surprised by the loss: "We are dependent on such transfer income to keep FC Luzern alive at all."
- FCL wants to become less dependent on transfer income in the future. "That's why we initiated the cost-cutting measures and invested in personnel," says Wolf.
Last week, FC Luzern announced that the club was once again in the red in the past financial year. The loss in the 2023/24 annual accounts amounted to around 2.5 million francs - despite the fact that international Ardon Jashari was sold to FC Brugge for around six million francs in the summer.
In an interview with blue Sport, outgoing president Stefan Wolf comments on the renewed loss and explains why, despite the record sale of Jashari, the club still posted a loss of millions.
Stefan Wolf on ...
... the loss of millions in the annual accounts 23/24
"A loss is never nice, that's for sure. It wasn't surprising for us. You have to know that the football business in Switzerland is loss-making for the vast majority of clubs. With these two and a half million, we are at the lower end of the scale without subsidies from any investors. But it is clear that we are not satisfied. I would have liked to present other figures."
... the sources of income for Swiss clubs
"In Switzerland, we have three factors where you can earn real money. One lever is in the match organization, through full stadiums, full VIP occupancy, sponsorship or advertising. The second lever is when you get to the group stage of a European competition and the third lever is through transfer income - if you don't want to rely on outside investors. It's not that easy."
... the high costs in Lucerne
"We have a lot of costs, especially in Lucerne. With the ticket tax, with which we give away half a million. With the security costs, where we can't do anything. We have to make sure that we minimize costs where we can."
... the differences with the Board of Directors
"Among other things, we disagreed on profitability. It wasn't just on this point. But I don't want to comment on that too much, these are internal stories in which I disagree with the Board of Directors."
... the business model of FC Luzern
"We know that we have a high cost structure. We have invested again in personnel, we invested in digitalization 12 to 15 months ago. It's also clear that this income won't come overnight. We didn't do certain things well either, that's logical. But we're aware of the situation we're in. And we are working to minimize costs and have adopted a package of cost-cutting measures.
But we are dependent on transfer income like this to keep FC Luzern alive at all. Thanks to Ardon Jashari, we've made a really big one. But we must also be able to sell our young players, in whom we have invested a lot for years, at a profit in the future."
... the cost-cutting measures that have been introduced
"It's clear that we want to become less dependent on these transfer revenues. That's why we initiated the cost-cutting measures and invested in personnel. And that's why we're also investing in young talent in the future. It's also clear that we run the risk of young players getting injured or a transfer not working out. The business is extremely volatile."
