Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Football has plenty to be proud of in these tough times.. shame Knight & Co can’t say the same
OUR old friend Julian Knight MP, the tax avoidance expert with an aversion to public spending on welfare, has piped up again.
After the prediction that Premier League clubs face a combined revenue loss of £1billion, Knight, who believes English football exists in a “moral vacuum” and that people with a disability should not get higher benefits, was quick to respond.
“To put into context, charities, which help millions of people, face a shortfall of £4bn,” he tweeted.
Which, sadly, would appear to be the case, but comparing the two is another sly dig at football from the Conservative chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
Charities, which help millions of people, Knight kindly explains to us. We know what charities do, Julian. And we know why so many of them have to help the underprivileged, the impoverished, the disadvantaged and the great swathes of unfortunate people neglected by the Government.
To have a society that has any sort of significant dependence on charity says a lot about that country’s economic and political leadership, but that is a broader debate. Knight’s inference is that if it faces a financial crisis, no one should shed a tear for the Premier League – not when charities are desperate for funding.
And he is right, of course. No one will be organising a whip-round for the poor, old Premier League.
But what Knight does not mention is that professional football – the Premier League and all other tiers – is doing more than most to help charities through this period. The unfortunate curtailment of the Women’s Super League meant Chelsea were crowned champions and they immediately donated the £100,000 prize money to a charity that helps women and children suffering domestic abuse.
It is not as though women professionals are lavishly paid. Those individuals could have used their cut of a hundred grand.
It is not as though the rankand-file football supporter is lavishly paid either, but when Everton offered fans the chance to donate their season-ticket refunds to a club coronavirus initiative, £400,000 was raised.
When owner Farhad Moshiri and chairman Bill Kenwright heard of the fans’ generosity, they matched the £400,000 donation. That is another £800,000 for the Blue Family campaign, which reaches out to isolated and socially vulnerable people on Merseyside. I doubt there is a single professional football club in the land that has not come up with financial and practical ways to help those most badly affected by the pandemic.
And so many footballers have thrown themselves into the people’s cause against Covid-19, with the Premier League captains organising the Players Together fundraising project.
I have not noticed a Hedge Fund Managers Together movement. Or a Tax Dodgers Together movement.
Then you have individuals such as Marcus Rashford (above) and it is hard to know where to start.
Last seen as a celebrity supply teacher taking a PE class for kids on the BBC, Rashford has helped raise tens of millions of pounds for a scheme that makes sure underprivileged children still get free meals, despite not being in school. You might have thought that was the Government’s job, but hey ho. Knight is correct to suggest the shortfall in charities’ income is of far graver concern than the shortfall in Premier League income.
But, unlike some in the corridors of political power and big business, when it comes to a selfless and charitable response to this crisis, football can be proud of itself.