Premier League
POLITICIANS SLAM HIGH WAGE TO PREMIERSHIP PLAYERS
Premier League clubs are living in a “moral vacuum” and players should be first to sacrifice salaries during the coronavirus pandemic, said politicians.
Julian Knight, the chair of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport committee, has condemned the actions of some Premier League clubs, who have furloughed non-playing staff.
Tottenham, Newcastle and Norwich have opted to utilise the government’s job retention scheme during the pandemic.
“It sticks in the throat,” said Knight.
“This exposes the crazy economics in English football and the moral vacuum at its centre.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan told BBC Radio 5 Live that top-flight players should be the ones to “carry the burden”.
“My view is always that those who are the least well-off should get the most help,” he said.
“Highly paid football players are people who can carry the greatest burden and they should be the first ones to, with respect, sacrifice their salary, rather than the person selling the programme or the person who does catering or the person who probably doesn’t get anywhere near the salary some of the Premier League footballers get.
“It should be those with the broadest shoulders who go first because they can carry the greatest burden and have probably got savings, rather than those who work in catering or hospitality who have probably got no savings and live week by week and who probably won’t get the [government] benefits for five weeks.”
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme means the government will pay staff placed on furlough – temporary leave – 80% of their wages, to a maximum of £2,500 a month.
Knight is concerned that the scheme is not being used in the appropriate way.
“This isn’t what it’s designed for. It’s 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,” said the MP for Solihull.
“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% of their wages rather than furloughing them on 80%.”
While some clubs have opted to use that scheme, a number have taken other steps to reduce their costs while football is suspended during the pandemic.
Players at Championship leaders Leeds United have already volunteered to take a wage deferral while Birmingham City players who earn more than £6,000 a week have been asked to take a 50% cut for the next four months.
In Europe, Barcelona players have taken a 70% pay cut while Juventus players and manager Maurizio Sarri have agreed to freeze their pay for four months.
However, Lord Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England, says Tottenham’s decision is fair, and Brighton & Hove Albion chief executive and deputy chairman Paul Barber says he can understand why clubs such as Spurs would furlough staff.
Brighton have committed to playing all matchday staff until the end of the season but Barber says he cannot rule out having to make cuts.
“It’s a very difficult time for everybody and I can fully understand why people think that the football industry and particularly the Premier League has got a lot of cash,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“In many cases that’s not the case, it’s a bit of a myth, but what we have to do is protect jobs.
“We’re doing whatever we can to do that and that’s the priority at the moment for just about every industry in the country, including ours.”
Premier League and English Football League clubs discussed at a meeting with the Professional Footballers’ Association last night.
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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