Fury over plans for women’s wage cap

THE FA are on collision course with teams in their Women’s Super League over plans to introduce a salary cap in all divisions.

The fraught negotiations are ongoing ahead of the league being relaunched in August so that it runs alongside men’s football.

But most of the nine teams in the top flight are furious with the FA proposal, believing it will hinder their chances of signing the best players, who will head to the United States instead if the money is not right. Some clubs have gone as far as calling the Wembley plans ‘sexist’.

But the FA point to the success of a wage cap in other sports and want their new elite women’s competition to start with a level playing field rather than the more powerful clubs being able to buy success. A DEAL is yet to be agreed but Under Armour are in pole position to become Manchester City’s next kit suppliers. Under Armour, who have opened offices in Manchester, are keen on adding a top English football club to their portfolio — they are being replaced by Nike at Tottenham and have lost out to the same company at Chelsea — and City is the obvious fit when their Nike agreement expires at the end of next season. TOTTENHAM’S hard-bargaining chairman Daniel Levy (right) does not miss a chance to make a quick buck. Spurs have offered seasonticket holders the opportunity to buy their own plastic seat for £50 before White Hart Lane is demolished. BIRMINGHAM’S bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games is understood to include the support of an influential trio — sports business magnates Sir Keith Mills and Alan Pascoe as well as Football League director Debbie Jevans. It will not hinder their cause that Theresa May’s joint Downing Street chief of staff is Brummie Nick Timothy.