Premier League Clubs Face Calls to Reduce Players’ Pay Amid Coronavirus Break
By Ross Jackson
Premier League clubs who refuse to reduce players’ wages while putting non-playing staff on furlough, are facing a potential windfall tax.
The football world is currently at a standstill with the majority of major leagues throughout the world being postponed amid the coronavirus outbreak. With clubs’ training bases and headquarters closing following government health guidelines, the issue has arisen regarding whether non-playing staff at clubs will be fully paid.
The Conservative chair of the DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) select committee, Julian Knight, has called for any Premier League club who has put its non-playing staff on furlough (meaning they will subsequently receive only 80% of their pay) despite their players receiving full pay, to be subject to further tax from the government.
“We are facing an obscene situation where top players who aren’t working are continuing to see hundreds of thousands of pounds roll in each week while the staff who keep the clubs going are losing wages,” Knight said as reported by The Guardian.
Knight has urged the chancellor to consider the sanctions for any club who continue the practice after 7 April. The move would see the government recover a substantial fee from each Premier League club, money which Knight believes could be used to reimburse non-playing staff of the 20% they lost, having been placed on furlough.
“If the Premier League isn’t going to act to resolve this crisis then the government must step in by imposing a significant financial penalty on clubs to reimburse those hit hardest in the pocket,” Knight added.
“That’s why I have written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak today demanding that Premier League clubs do the right thing by Tuesday next week or face the consequences.”
Among the list of Premier League clubs who have confirmed their non-playing staff have been put on furlough are Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Norwich City and Bournemouth.
Knight has also penned a letter to Premier League CEO, Richard Masters, in which he described “this two-tier system [as] morally wrong, especially given the extremely high wages paid to players”.
The Premier League is set to hold a meeting with its participants on Friday, with the parties now coming under increasing pressure to make a decision on the matter.