Football has gone completely nuts where money is concerned, proclaims Alan Sugar

Football has gone completely nuts where money is concerned, proclaims Alan Sugar

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Former Tottenham part-owner Alan Sugar has expressed his concerns for the smaller clubs and has also claimed that football’s obsession over money has gone crazy. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a mandatory shutdown for almost every football league in the world with England on that list.

The pandemic shut down football in England more than a month ago after Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was recorded as the first major case in the Premier League. That forced an immediate shutdown with many others slowly slipping out of the cracks with the English top tier following the Serie A and everyone else following in their footsteps.

However, the financial impact has been tremendous with a few of the smaller and lower league sides on the verge of bankruptcy. That has been mainly because clubs have failed to balance their books without matchday and broadcast income flowing through their coffers. It has seen former Tottenham part-owner Alan Sugar worried about the smaller clubs and he admitted as such.

Sugar went on to admit, in a recent interview, that a few clubs cannot sustain this without matchday income and he even admitted that a few sides go hand to mouth. While that notion has been deemed ridiculous by a few, Sugar further added that every penny goes to player transfers, wages and so on and he also admitted that he fears for a few clubs.

"There's a lot of problems ahead for the Premier League. There's no question of that. I think the situation is dire. Some clubs just simply can't afford it. They work from hand to mouth. I know it sounds ridiculous, but they spend every single penny they can on player transfers and player wages and they rely upon the income coming in to pay their bills" Sugar said, reported ESPN.

“And if you stop the income coming in, then where are they going to get the money from? I fear for some clubs. Football has just gone completely nuts as far as money is concerned."

While clubs across Europe have cut or deferred their players’ wages, there has been no collective cut in England yet. The players union rejected a push for a 30% wage cut by the Premier League and reports indicated that they want it in the region of a 10% wage cut. But both Southampton and West Ham players have agreed to defer their pay after a meeting with the club and Sugar hoped that others follow their footsteps because eventually, clubs will run out of money.

"If they haven't got the money, you can't pay them. What is [Professional Footballers' Association chief executive] Gordon Taylor going to do then? He can't sue the club if they haven't got any money, particularly if they've gone bust. What's he going to do? Is he going to dip into the multi-million coffers of the PFA and pay everybody out?

"Because at the end of the day, I can tell you if this goes on for months into the next season, certain clubs ... will have to go into receivership then ... and then the players won't get paid," Sugar added.

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