‘ Farce’ rescue deal gets roasted

as soon as possible. Knight said: “Frankly it feels as if negotiations have taken far too long, and there is a degree of farce about them when it comes to ‘ Project Big Picture’.

“Ten EFL clubs are unlikely to make payroll this month but you ( Premier League) spend £ 1.2bn in the transfer window.

“The idea of allowing you to come back was to allow you to help the rest of the sport. The committee would like to see you come to a deal in double- quick time when it comes to League One and League Two.

“It seems you are thrashing out in all directions to drag anything into this argument to make it more political than it needs to be, which is basically about football doing its job.”

Masters hit back at the criticism and insisted the Premier League, EFL and FA had done a good job of saving football up to now.

He said: “We have been asked to step up and I believe we are doing that. The three organisations have worked on a complex calendar to maximise opportunity for all of us.

“In a broad offer to the EFL we have said no club needs to go out of business due to Covid- related reasons.”

Masters was also blasted over the Premier League’s decision to charge fans £ 14.95 for live games on pay- per- view while Parry

was accused of being divisive for his role in the ‘ Project Big Picture’ talks that took place without the knowledge of a host of clubs. Masters confirmed PPV would be dropped but added: “We took a decision to move to pay- per- view and now we are reviewing that. “We have listened to feedback, we will be changing direction and moving away from it and taking another step that will see us through lockdown, the Christmas period and into January. I can’t announce what it is.”