British health secretary urges Premier League players to take pay cuts
Premier League footballers should reduce their wages so clubs have the funds to pay non-playing staff during the coronavirus pandemic, Britain's health secretary urged Thursday.
"I think everybody needs to play their part in this national effort and that means Premier League footballers too," Matt Hancock said, according to Reuters.
"Given the sacrifices that many people are making, including some of my colleagues in the NHS (National Health Service) who have made the ultimate sacrifice of going into work and have caught the disease and have sadly died, I think the first thing that Premier League footballers can do is make a contribution, take a pay cut."
A handful of Premier League clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, have put employees on gardening leave and used government funds to subsidize their salaries while continuing to pay player salaries in full.
Several politicians and pundits, namely former Spurs striker Gary Lineker, have criticized teams for using a mechanism that's meant to help businesses in desperate need.
Premier League clubs amassed a combined £4.8 billion in revenue during the 2017-18 season.
Talks are ongoing between the Premier League, the English Football League, and the Professional Footballers' Association to defer or cut wages during the work stoppage.
"We are aware of the public sentiment that the players should pay non-playing staff's salaries. However, our current position is that - as businesses - if clubs can afford to pay their players and staff, they should," the PFA said Thursday.
"The players we have spoken (to) recognize that the non-playing staff are a vital part of their club and they do not want to see club staff furloughed unfairly. Any use of the government's support schemes without genuine financial need is detrimental to the wider society."
Julian Knight, head of a parliamentary sports committee in the U.K., addressed a letter to Premier League chief executive Richard Masters on Thursday, reprimanding clubs for temporarily laying off workers while still paying out millions of pounds to top-flight footballers.
"The purpose of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is not to support the economics of Premier League clubs," Knight's letter read. "Your organization should be role-modeling a responsible approach rather than tolerating divisive practices. European clubs, including Bayern Munich, Juventus, and Barcelona, have shown that it is possible to reach an agreement with players whereby they agree to take pay reductions for a set period."
Bayern players took a 20% pay cut, while their counterparts at Juventus agreed to freeze their salaries for four months. Lionel Messi also announced he and his Barcelona teammates will sacrifice 70% of their wages to guarantee the future of non-playing staff.
All four professional leagues in English football have been postponed until April 30 due to the pandemic. As of Thursday, the U.K. has recorded more than 30,000 cases of COVID-19 and nearly 3,000 related deaths.