As soccer's television revenues shrink and the sport is dragged into industrial unrest and financial crises, European football experts gather in London this week to discuss ways of keeping the game afloat.
The start of Europe's new club season has been dominated by financial rows in the continent's major leagues with lucrative television deals - the raw material behind soccer's 1990s boom - getting harder and harder to find.
The game is suffering the pains of an industry facing a serious reality check as clubs are threatened with bankruptcy after a decade when salaries have reached unmanageable levels.
The strains of making ends meet have started to show. Last week Greek football chiefs announced plans for a league shutdown this month after the government refused to compensate them for loss of revenue because of the collapse of a European digital TV broadcaster.
Italy's Serie A season started a fortnight late because of a tussle over television rights. The English football league is struggling with chronic problems threatening clubs after the collapse earlier this year of a television deal with ITV Digital.
A report published last week said Scotland's 12 premier league clubs were $205 million in debt for the year 2000/01.
The European Football Finance Forum, organised by Euromoney, has invited chief executives and officials from various clubs - including Manchester United, AC Milan and Sporting Lisbon - to discuss the future of the game on Thursday and Friday. The forum includes debates on spiralling salaries, television rights and possible new markets for the game.
