Football chiefs look to govern financial fallout

FOOTBALL will today try to thrash out a united response to the growing calls for players to take wage cuts in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

But the fall-out from the financial impact of the game’s lockdown is threatening to erupt into open warfare between clubs and their high-profile employees.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy piled the pressure on multi-millionaire Premier League stars yesterday with his call for cuts.

But Professional Footballers’ Association boss Gordon Taylor has threatened to block such a move in crisis talks later today.

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 just 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 wants clubs to be transparent about why this is necessary first.

Privately, many clubs do not back deferrals because they believe this just stores up problems at a later date.

But the PFA want to know whether this season can realistically be finished before agreeing to a firm course of action.

And some players may take convincing to resume playing at all because 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 wage cuts across the board, but they will try to co-ordinate efforts by the clubs and the FA to find a solution.

However, with no matchday revenue coming in and the possibility of a £762m 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.

To protect jobs, Spurs yesterday announced a 20 per cent cut to the wages of all 550 non-playing directors and employees for April and May, including 100 retail and 217 admin staff.

They intend to use the government’s furlough scheme, which allows claims for 80 per cent of staff salaries up to a maximum of £2,500 per month, per person, where it is appropriate.

Newcastle placed non-first-team furlough on Monday – and more expected to follow suit.

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 with no income.

Levy said: “The club’s operations have effectively ceased. Some of our fans will have lost their jobs and most will be worried about their future.

“Our sponsors will be concerned about their businesses and our media partners have no certainty when we may play games again.

“In the meantime, the club has an annual cost base running into hundreds of millions of pounds.

“We have seen some of the biggest clubs in the world such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus take steps to reduce their costs.” staff clubs on are