Swans to furlough non-playing staff
SWANSEA City have become the latest club to place the majority of their non-playing staff on furlough due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Steve Cooper’s men have not taken to the field since they drew 0-0 with promotion hopefuls West Brom at the Liberty Stadium on March 7.
They are not due to return to action until the weekend of April 30 at the earliest, although that date is expected to be pushed back as a result of the ongoing pandemic.
Players, coaches and staff have been doing their best to work from home for several weeks in line with government advice in a bid to reduce the spread of the virus.
And it’s understood that the vast majority of the club’s non-playing staff have now received a letter from chairman Trevor Birch regarding the Covid-19 crisis.
Swansea will utilise the recentlylaunched scheme to protect jobs in a move that allows up to 80 per cent of wages to be paid by the government, with the club vowing to pay the remaining 20 per cent for the “immediate future”.
Some sections of the club’s staff – such as those in senior management – will continue to work as normal.
It comes amid reports that the Professional Footballers’ Association emailed all players urging them not to sign agreements with their clubs regarding wage cuts or deferrals until consulting with the union.
Some of the world’s biggest stars, including Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Juventus talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, are among those to take significant wage cuts amid the crisis.
There has been an increasing pressure placed on top-flight clubs to enforce uniform measures that will see player wages reduced to aid dayto-day staff, with MPs wading into the argument and questioning the morality of highly-paid stars receiving their wages while club staff are asked to take wage reductions in line with the government scheme.
Swansea currently sit in 11th place in the Championship and are three points adrift of the play-off places with nine games remaining in the 2019/20 campaign.
Uefa, meanwhile, have announced that all international matches scheduled for June have been postponed, while its club competitions remain suspended until further notice.
The governing body announced last month that Euro 2020 will now be held next year due to the coronavirus outbreak. Football across the vast majority of Europe remains on hold.
Uefa addressed general secretaries from each of its 55 members associations via video conference ywesterday, with those in attendance discussing a range of topics, including when the 2019/20 season should resume.
“And the key headlines to emerge from the meeting is that every international fixture scheduled for June will be postponed.
“It means Wales’ Euro 2020 warmup clash with Netherlands in Rotterdam on June 6 has been postponed. Ryan Giggs’ men have already seen their friendly matches against Austria and the United States of America cancelled due to the current crisis.
■ One year on – Birch’s first year in charge: Page 35