If there is no money, there is no football ...everyone must take a cut to protect it
Canaries stand firm
NORWICH CITY have said they will not bow to criticism of their decision to furlough non-playing staff.
The Canaries and Newcastle are the only Premier League clubs using the Government’s job retention scheme after Liverpool, Tottenham and Bournemouth reversed their decisions following criticism.
Relegation-threatened Norwich say the suspension of football due to coronavirus will cost them between £18million and £35m.
Chief operating officer Ben Kensell said: “We knew we’d get criticised as a result of it – what we’re not going to do is take a different view on that.
“We’ll stick to our guns and we believe we are doing it for the right reasons.”
SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON has warned England’s footballers: Take the wage pain – or clubs will go under.
The former England boss has flagged up the possibility of bankruptcy sweeping the sport as it battles Covid-19.
Players might struggle with their consciences and demand to see proof that their salaries are the central issue to their employers’ financial well-being, but the Swede says that while “everyone is a loser,” steps must be taken to ensure clubs recover from the storm.
Asked if the players should take pay cuts, he said: “We’re all having to pay something – life is not as it was. One way or another we are all losers.
“In Sweden, I support a third division team,
Torsby, and no sponsors’ money is coming in.
“The club has had to sack people. So players have to see their salaries go down and be clever.
“Where are you getting money if there is nothing from sponsorship and ticket sales?
“Clubs are now operating day to day, not month to month, so if there’s no football there will be no sponsors and the club cannot pay for a normal service.
“Everyone will have to lose something. sense. Everyone understands the situation. A lot of clubs in Sweden have done the same. “It’s very difficult to say what players in the Premier League should do. Big money from tickets, sponsors and TV, some of them will go bankrupt if they have to pay salaries as well.
“It will have to sort itself out because if there is no money to pay, there’s no money.”
However, Eriksson, who is now 72 and still wants a career in management, says football will be used as a barometer to signal that life is returning to normal.
He said: “Of course I miss football, we all do. It will come back, that’s for sure.
“All sport will come back and football especially. It is the biggest sport in the world and will never die. are saying. I have seen them saying, ‘We are going to try and finish all the leagues and the cups, but we cannot do it at any costs of life’ – and I think that’s right.
“Finishing a league important and beautiful.
Risk
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