Pressure grows on footballers to accept wage cuts or deferrals
Pressure is intensifying on professional footballers and their union to accept wage cuts or deferrals to help the game negotiate safe financial passage through the coronavirus crisis, as members of Sheffield United’s squad begin to be briefed on the outcome of talks between the Premier League and PFA.
A poll commissioned by YouGov found 92 per cent of respondents felt top-flight players should take a wage cut to reflect the loss of revenue created by the Covid-19 outbreak, with more than two-thirds of those questioned saying the bar should be set at least 50 per cent.
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe, along with other senior non-playing staff at the south coast club, have agreed to take a significant and voluntary pay cut until the season, which was placed on hold last month, resumes. A number of staff at the Vitality Stadium have also been furloughed under the Government's job retention scheme, set up to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the British economy.
Representatives from the PFA are holding talks with the PL and the English Football League regarding a possible collective agreement on wage deferral.
Tranmere chairman and former Football Association chief executive Mark Palios told the PA news agency a uniform response was "absolutely essential" while his Scunthorpe counterpart Peter Swann criticised the union on Wednesday, saying: "It's embarrassing regarding the silence of the PFA in all of this".
At Bournemouth, Howe was joined in accepting a pay cut by chief executive Neill Blake, first team technical director Richard Hughes and assistant manager Jason Tindall.
"There is no script for moments like this," a club statement read.
"No tactics and no set plays to find a winning formula. But as a board we are continually looking at ways to ensure the future of the club and our employees is protected when the season returns."
United’s players, who were seventh in the PL table when the fixture calendar was suspended, are thought to be supportive of the idea of accepting a wage cut or deferral, with defender Chris Basham and manager Chris Wilder recently stressing the importance of protecting the sport’s grassroots.