THE heady days of easy credit and sky-high wages are ending in Europe.

The global financial crisis is driving sports clubs and authorities to change course.

Already saddled with debts, many European soccer clubs will now find it increasingly difficult to have access to credit.

Said Mr Luca Rigotti of the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, North Carolina: "The era of easy credit has come to an end. There are companies which have not been very careful in borrowing money and there could be trouble for them."

English football alone is about 3 billion pounds (S$7.5 billion) in debt and Uefa, European football's governing body, is considering banning clubs with excessive debt from taking part in its competitions.

Said sports economics professor Chris Gratton at Sheffield Hallam University: "Figures were recently mentioned that no clubs will be allowed to have more than 30 or 40 per cent of their turnover in debt.

"That would cause them huge problems."

Mr Dave Whelan, owner of Barclays Premier League side Wigan, has suggested a salary cap to avoid top clubs going into receivership.

In German football, the main worry centres on a lack of agreement over a new television deal, with the current Bundesliga contract expiring at the end of this season.

In Spain, where Barcelona and Real Madrid are owned by their fans, "there is a real-estate crisis, meaning that money from this important source no longer flows into football", said Mr Giorgio Brambilla, marketing and sales director for Italy at Sport+Markt consultancy firm.

The rush of foreign investors into English football has also cut the number of clubs on the stock market.

Even so, further investments by rich Arab funds are unlikely, owing to the financial crisis.

Liverpool's plans for a new 60,000-seat stadium have been delayed, but Italy's Juventus still hope to complete the redevelopment of the Stadio delle Alpi by 2012, having borrowed less than half of the -105 million (S$205 million) needed for the overhaul.

The impact of the crisis on sponsorship has also been felt.

English Premier League club West Ham could face a 5-million shortfall, following the collapse of shirt sponsor XL Holidays.

The travel firm's logo was removed and replica shirt sales - another key revenue tool for clubs were stopped.

The club suffered an even bigger blow, with chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson losing millions from being a major shareholder in struggling Icelandic bank Landsbanki.

London's 2012 Olympics bosses have warned the crisis could result in a 250-million pound shortfall for the Games, and the British government has released 95 million pounds of contingency funds to keep work on the athletes' village on track.

The slump in housing prices, which could damage the chances of recouping money from the village after the Olympics, has also seen the number of planned post-Games apartments reduced.

Formula One, famed for its exuberance, is suffering too.

Organisers said last week that next year's French Grand Prix had been cancelled for financial reasons.

The announcement came on the same day as news emerged that Formula One's governing body was proposing radical cost-cutting measures to help teams survive the global financial storm.

The heady days of sporting extravaganzas, it seems, may be coming to an end in Europe.

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