Pandemic has exposed the crazy economics in English football, admits Julian Knight
Julian Knight MP has reprimanded the actions of Premier League clubs who have furloughed their non-playing staff but are still paying footballers. The suspension of football in England has led to a serious financial crisis for clubs across the football pyramid with many on the verge of bankruptcy.
That has seen Premier League footballers coming under the cosh to take wage cuts but ESPN has reported that talks between the league and the PFA have come to a standstill. Neither side has come to an agreement over wage cuts or deferrals with Tottenham, Norwich City and Newcastle United already confirming that they’ve furloughed or cut the salaries of their non-playing staff. Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe and three others at the club including assistant manager Jason Tindall have also offered to work on reduced salaries.
The Cherries confirmed that Howe, who reportedly earns £4 million a year, has taken a significant voluntary wage cut to help his side. But, Julian Knight, an MP, is not happy at the fact that Premier League sides have used the government furlough scheme to try and pay their non-playing staff without cutting their first-team superstars’ salaries. He also went on to add that the crisis has exposed the “moral vacuum” that the Premier League operates in and the “crazy economics” at play in the English top tier.
“This isn’t what [the scheme] is designed for. It sticks in the throat. This exposes the crazy economics in English football and the moral vacuum at its centre. It’s [the scheme] not designed to effectively allow them to continue to pay people hundreds of thousands of pounds, while at the same time furloughing staff on hundreds of pounds,” Knight said, reported the Sunday Times.
"I don't know whether or not the Treasury can legally turn down these applications. But at the same time I think football needs to have a good, long, hard look at itself and see whether or not morally this is really right, and whether or not actually what they need to do is come to an arrangement with some of their stars so they can continue to pay their [non-playing] staff 100 per cent of their wages rather than furloughing them on 80 per cent,” he added.
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