Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HEALTH BEFORE WEALTH
Levy tells players and managers: Football needs to wake up to the enormity of what’s happening.. with 38,000 deaths and most of the world in lockdown.. we cannot operate in a bubble
FOOTBALL will today try desperately to thrash out a united response to growing calls for players to take wage cuts in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. But the fallout from the financial impact of the game’s lockdown threatens to erupt into open warfare between clubs and their highprofile stars. Tottenham chairman
Daniel Levy piled the pressure on the Premier League’s multi-millionaire players yesterday after calling for cuts.
He said: “When I read or hear stories about player transfers this summer like nothing has happened, people need to wake up to the enormity of what is happening around us.
“With over 786,000 infected, nearly 38,000 deaths and large segments of the world in lockdown, we need to realise that football cannot operate in a bubble.
“This virus has no boundaries.
“Yesterday, we ourselves made the difficult decision, in order to protect jobs, to reduce the remuneration of all 550 non-playing directors and employees for April and May by 20 per cent.
“We hope the current discussions between the Premier League, PFA and LMA will result in players and coaches doing their bit for the football eco system.”
But PFA boss Gordon Taylor (left) has threatened to block such a move,
The PFA represents members up and down the leagues – including some potentially facing financial hardship if their wages are severely reduced.
And the union fears some clubs may be tempted to take advantage of the crisis purely to save money.
Taylor will today meet the Premier League and EFL as part of the game’s emergency task force, but is under pressure to bend.
He has not ruled out agreeing to back a wage deferral scheme.
But he wants clubs to be transparent about why this is first necessary.
Privately, many clubs do not back deferrals because they believe this just stores up trouble for later.
The PFA want to know whether this season can realistically be finished
The union fears some clubs may be tempted to take advantage
before agreeing to a firm course of action.
And some players may take convincing to resume playing at all,
They have been advised they are not insured against the virus, which is not listed as a critical illness on some policies.
The Premier League has no mandate to enforce wagecuts across the board, but will try to co-ordinate efforts by the clubs and the FA to find a solution.
But with no matchday revenue coming in and the
possibility of a £762million rebate due to broadcasters if the season cannot be finished, clubs need clarity on whether they will be expected to continue paying out full salaries.
The game has never felt emptier at iconic stadiums such as Barcelona and Levy’s Spurs (left).
But it is the massive sums paid out to players, who currently have no matches to play, which are by far the biggest drain on clubs whose sources of income are running out.