BLAME

The madcap Brescia chief makes a shock debut in this section for vowing to forfeit every game if forced to resume the season. Bit drastic but fair play to him.

The Tottenham defender surprised a Spurs supporting NHS worker with a video call and paid tribute to healthcare heroes. Nice touch.

The Belgium giant is said to have offered to make up the financial shortfall if Anderlecht players do not agree to pay cuts. Top class.

Things go from bad to worse for the fallen star, both on and off the pitch, after it emerged his restaurant has lost £1.7m in the first 12 months of trading.

Is there a more cretinous person in sport? No. There are those who joke about the best ways to punch women – and then there are normal people.

Having urged people to stay at home, he went round to a mate’s house before crashing his car. Sit down on the sofa mate and watch TV. Keep your brains warm.

THE blame game is in full swing as English football threatens to self-combust due to the coronavirus crisis.

And the burning question at the highest level remains this – do those with all the money and power have a conscience when it comes to doing their bit to help in the desperate battle against the killer pandemic?

Let’s consider Manchester United owners the Glazers (top right) for example. While thousands of people continued to die around the globe, last month the American billionaires spent

50 million dollars to sign legendary quarterback Tom Brady for their NFL franchise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

That’s quite an indulgence when you consider Brady will be 43 in August.

But never mind, should the NFL survive the crisis that is wrecking all of sport, Brady will help his new club generate millions from merchandising and ticket sales.

From their respective luxury homes in Washington, New York and Tampa, these three amigos showed a blissful and shameful ignorance towards just how bad this looked.

This all took place against a backdrop of growing fury back in the real world at the fact not one single Premier League footballer had agreed to accept a wage cut or deferral to help in the fight to save lives.

Why not? Because, despite many being prepared to do it, they were being told not to by their union, the Professional Footballers’ Association, led by the footballing dinosaur that is Gordon Taylor (above centre). There had also been no encouragement, guidance or strong direction from club owners.

Players were thrown under the bus by Health Minister Matt Hancock (above) who took them to task and urged them to “do the right thing”.

Hancock was acting like the King of Irony without realising it. He leads the NHS, a service keeping the nation going but one that has been underfunded by over £13bn for years by politicians like him.

Questioning the behaviour of footballers at a time when the government has been found wanting themselves is laughable.

How about questioning the morals and motives of people like the Glazers, Tottenham owner and Bahamas tax exile Joe Lewis or Newcastle supremo Mike Ashley? How about asking them to donate a fraction of their huge wealth towards the battle to save lives?

Lewis and Ashley are both billionaires but have shamelessly allowed their respective clubs to take advantage of the government’s furlough scheme, cutting salaries of non-playing staff while still paying top stars deals worth up to

£150,000-a-week in some cases. Lewis (net worth $4.7bn) and Ashley (net worth $2.5bn), along with the other 18 owners of Premier League clubs, have a combined wealth of

£80bn while all 20 clubs get around

£200m each in television revenue. But this pot of gold remains intact and unthreatened. Those at the top of the food chain remain untouchable. Those at the top of the food chain have also missed an open goal. The chance to take the lead, set the right example, do the right thing and show they care. Instead, players have been left in an unenviable position by those still obsessed by greed, those who continue to ride the gravy train and refuse to get off it – even when people are dying. Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson did lead fellow Premier League captains in talks about possible moves to give money to charity in midweek while Manchester United players reportedly donated 30 per cent of a month’s wages to the NHS after skipper Harry Maguire had been approached by chairman Ed Woodward.

The Premier League blinked first and persuaded top-flight clubs to ask all players to consider a 30 per cent wage cut or deferral. We wait to see if they will, but why has it taken so long? Too many owners are detached from reality. Their search for ethical wisdom and strong leadership continues.

The sport is damaged forever – and while people will still love the game on its return, they will never view it in the same light again.