EPL slammed by politicians, ex players and fans for failure to cut wages

Published on: 02 April 2020

Politicians, former players and football fans have slammed Premier League clubs for failing to reduce the wages of their multi-millionaire players before using the government's furlough scheme for their non-playing staff.

While the programme sellers and stewards are taking 20 per cent wage cuts and being bailed out by the government, top stars are still earning hundreds of thousands a week, and have been urged by the PFA to not accept cuts to their pay.

All this has left a sour taste in the mouths of football fans and even ex-players, who have urged players to do the right thing and end the PR disaster they find themselves embroiled in.

Leading figures from the world of politics have also weighed in on the debate, with Julian Knight, the chair of the Digital, Media and Sport committee, stating: 'It sticks in the throat.

'This exposes the crazy economics in English football and the moral vacuum at its centre.'

MP for Tottenham David Lammy took to Twitter on Thursday morning and said: 'It's criminal that Premier League footballers haven’t moved more quickly to take pay cuts and deferrals. And completely wrong that taxpayers are now being asked to subsidise cleaners, caterers and security guards at these clubs instead.

Harry Redknapp, former Tottenham and Portsmouth manager, told the BBC: 'I'm a bit disappointed they've used that scheme to keep workers on. These people are so important to every football club, the club shouldn't be taking the government's money to be paying them.

'The players need to have a meeting among themselves and from their heart, say "I think it would be a good idea, let us take a wage cut, not deferred wages, we can afford to take a cut, whether its five, 10 per cent, but do it from the heart."

'When the government brought this scheme out I thought it was for businesses who couldn't afford to keep workers on, I didn't think it was for the use of top Premier League clubs.'

MailOnline columnist and football fan Piers Morgan summed up the thoughts of the nation when he told Sportsmail: 'It is outrageous for any football club right now to cut salaries of club staff but not the extravagantly paid players too.'

Fans too have made their feelings abundantly clear, taking to Twitter to share their increasing anger on the situation football finds itself in.

One wrote: 'Massive PR opportunity for the first high-profile Premier League footballer who comes out and asks their club for a pay cut, so the non-playing staff can continue to be paid. Even better if a captain got the entire team to agree to it.'

Elsewhere, meanwhile, some fans believe football may struggle to recover from the position it has put itself in.

'At this rate when things go back to normal, the stadiums will still be empty as the public give up or boycott their support for players & refuse to keep lining billionaires pockets,' one said.

Another football fan noted: 'Football is cutting its own throat right now. If they carry on with this greedy stance attendances will plummet when football finally resumes.'

As it stands, no Premier League players have cut their wages amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis, which has already seen 2,352 deaths in the United Kingdom.

Gordon Taylor, the £2million-a-year chief executive of the PFA, has urged players to not agree to wage cuts or deferrals, with the Premier League set for a crunch meeting on Friday to decide their next move.

Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan, never one to hold back with his strong opinions, also spoke on the subject during his talkSPORT show earlier this week.

'I think it is an awful look for football,' he began, 'and I think it's awful Premier League footballers are being paid £250,000 to £500,000-a-week and the government is having to support Premier League clubs.

'I'm sat here saying: Come on football, you can't sit there and have every footballer in the Premier League on an average £70,000-a-week and seriously say "let's not cut the players' wages first before we go to the government to fund our own staff".

'Come on! There is a moral obligation here – there has to be. Football has GOT to take a pay cut!'

Elsewhere Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live and insisted that top-flight players need to 'carry the burden'.

'My view is always that those who are the least well off should get the most help,' he said.

'Highly paid football players are people who can carry the greatest burden and they should be the first one to, with respect, sacrifice their salary, rather than the person selling the programme or the person who does catering or the person who probably doesn't get anywhere near the salary some of the Premier League footballers get.

'It should be those with the broadest shoulders who go first because they can carry the greatest burden and have probably got savings, rather than those who were in catering or hospitality who have probably got no savings and live week by week and who probably won't get the [government] benefits for five weeks.'

Source: m.allfootballapp.com

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