FIFA Museum To Lose $30m

FIFA’s World Football Museum in Zurich is set to lose 30 million Swiss francs (£24m; $30m) this year, according to Swiss media reports.

The attraction, which opened nine months ago, explores football’s history through multimedia, memorabilia and archive photos.

It cost 140m francs to build, and was the pet project of former Fifa president Sepp Blatter.

A working group now hopes to figure out a better business model.

The museum’s spokesperson Delia Fischer confirmed the losses to the Tages Anzeiger newspaper, saying “new, innovative approaches” were being explored to keep the museum afloat.

The team trying to save the tourist site includes Fifa special adviser and former Croatia captain Zvonimir Boban, and Evelina Christillin, who is president of the Egyptian Museum in Turin and sits on the Fifa Council. They will make their suggestions in January 2017.

It was hoped that 250,000 visitors would annually enjoy the story of the beautiful game, but the number showing up is around 11,000 a month – or 132,000 a year.

Ms Fischer told the Telegraph that if the numbers don’t pick up, the museum will be unable to “do business viably beyond 2016”.

 

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