Ramon Vega says football has been heading for "collapse" for years due to financial mismanagement and action should have been taken long ago as the game is losing its soul.
The coronavirus crisis has had a huge impact on clubs all over the world and many were already in a precarious predicament prior to the global pandemic.
Championship clubs have paid the price for chasing the riches of the Premier League, while Wigan Athletic were relegated to League One after being docked 12 points for falling into administration just four weeks after they were taken over by a Hong Kong-based consortium.
There are concerns more clubs could go out of business and it is by no means only in England where they have fallen on hard times.
Former Switzerland international Vega's expertise in football and finance has been in increasing demand since the COVID-19 outbreak.
Vega, who has forged a successful career in asset management since hanging up his boots and remains interested in becoming FIFA president, is concerned about the state of the game.
The ex-Spurs centre-back told Stats Perform News: "It had been going in the direction of collapse for quite a few years, COVID-19 has obviously speeded that up and put clubs in an even more severe situation. It should have been addressed a while ago.
"The key part is most of the guys had already spent the money before it came it. It's like having a salary and spending half of it already before you have it. Then if you realise you are not going to get that money you are going to be struggling, as you have no cashflow.
