TOTTENHAM

and newcastle have disabled email accounts and confiscated phones and laptops from staff who have been furloughed. This is to prevent them doing any work and thereby breaching the terms of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which both clubs are using to claim money from the Government to pay wages. other Premier League clubs are bemused at Spurs and newcastle’s decision to shut down their scouting analysis, as remote video analysis of past matches can still be conducted during the shutdown. many of their rivals have beefed up their recruitment operations with a view to being ready to do business when the transfer window opens. Tottenham’s controversial decision to furlough 550 non-playing staff this week was based on the need to cut costs in the event of a worst-case scenario of the club not being able to stage any matches for the rest of the year. Spurs are missing out on more money than any other Premier League club due to lost revenue at their new stadium, with match-day takings usually around £5million, so chairman Daniel Levy (above) acted swiftly to protect the business in the event of a lengthy shutdown. Levy’s decision to publish Tottenham’s annual accounts, which included his £4m salary and £3m bonus, on the same day as announcing the furloughing was particularly odd given the club did not have to do so. While march 31 was Tottenham’s year-end for accounting purposes, the Government has given businesses a three-month extension to file accounts due to the crisis. It is surprising Levy did not exploit that loophole in an attempt to avoid criticism.