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Post by rugbytoffee on Apr 3, 2020 18:26:32 GMT
Premier League clubs will consult with players over wage reductions and deferrals amounting to 30 per cent of salary as they grapple with the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The worsening of the Covid-19 outbreak has led the English professional game to acknowledge that football will not return at the start of May. No restart date has been fixed – instead it will be kept under constant review.
The suspension has created financial issues for clubs throughout the football pyramid, with non-playing staff at a variety of clubs having been placed on furlough leave under the Government’s coronavirus job retention scheme. There has been pressure – including from the health secretary Matt Hancock – for players to take a financial hit over the last 24 hours and now top-flight clubs will continue talks with the Professional Footballers’ Association over the weekend towards a deal to defer and reduce wages.
Separately, the PA news agency understands Premier League captains have held a conference call to discuss other ways in which they and their team-mates can help worthy causes during this time of national crisis.
“In the face of substantial and continuing losses for the 2019-20 season since the suspension of matches began, and to protect employment throughout the professional game, Premier League clubs unanimously agreed to consult their players regarding a combination of conditional reductions and deferrals amounting to 30 per cent of total annual remuneration,” a Premier League statement read.
“This guidance will be kept under constant review as circumstances change. The league will be in regular contact with the PFA and the union will join a meeting which will be held tomorrow between the league, players and club representatives.”
It remains to be seen whether – subject to agreement – the players’ wage reduction and deferrals would remove the need for Premier League clubs to utilise the Government’s job retention scheme, but that is certainly the expectation of Julian Knight, the chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, who cautiously welcomed the league’s statement. On Thursday Knight had warned Premier League clubs he would ask Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to consider a windfall tax if they went ahead with furloughing non-playing staff while not seeking wage cuts from players.
He hopes the Premier League goes further, and ensures non-playing staff at clubs outside the top flight can be protected from furloughing.
“It’s good to see this proposal out in the light, now they have got to go and get it done,” he told the PA news agency.
“That will be down to the negotiations with the players’ union and then hopefully we can be a better place where the taxpayer isn’t being asked to fund the economics of the Premier League.
“In the statement it sets out the intent that they should not be relying on furloughing, that actually this should be funded by deferral or cuts (to players’ wages).
“My main concerns were, when I saw the Spurs and Newcastle stories, it sticks in the throat to have taxpayers in any way funding the economic model of the Premier League, which is not in the real world. “That does stick in the throat, because we’re going to need that money for the NHS, and we’re going to need that money when we come out of this.
“But the focus is really on the smaller clubs and the non-playing staff who are facing real cuts in their income. Personally I’d like to see them guaranteeing 100 per cent of the furloughed staff money. It’s a step in the right direction, but there’s still the agreement to be had, and we’ll see over the next few days how that goes.”
It is understood the EFL is looking for players in its leagues to accept significantly more than a 30 per cent deferral or reduction, as discussions with the PFA continue.
The EFL and the National League were boosted on Friday by the advance of a combined £125million from the Premier League. The money to the EFL is made up of solidarity payments, parachute payments and academy grants.
“These actions will have a positive impact on individual clubs across our three divisions at a difficult and uncertain time,” an EFL statement said. The Premier League also announced it is donating £20m to the NHS and other community causes.
The advance to the lower leagues, the donation to the NHS and the captains’ initiative were all praised by Knight.
“Some of the clubs from all parts of the football pyramid, are only weeks away from oblivion,” he said.
“This (money) should help, and that is really crucial, if anything that is the most important part of what has happened today.”
On the separate players’ initiative, Knight said: “That would be brilliant. Anyone who does anything like that, hats off to them. Hopefully that will happen.”
The PFA is yet to comment on the Premier League announcement.
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Post by rugbytoffee on Apr 5, 2020 8:45:01 GMT
THE Professional Footballers’ Association has warned that a 30 per cent pay cut would see the government lose up to £200million in tax revenues.
Premier League players have come under increasing pressure to have their wages slashed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Captains from each top-flight team held a conference call on Saturday to discuss how they can play their part and it was made clear that they want to help.
However, they want the money to be used for the right reasons and not as a tool to save finances. A PFA statement on behalf of the Premier League players read: "All Premier League players want to, and will, play their part in making significant financial contributions in these unprecedented times.
"Going forward, we are working together to find a solution which will be continually reviewed in order to assess the circumstance of the COVID-19 crisis.
"The players are mindful that as PAYE employees, the combined tax on their salaries is a significant contribution to funding essential public services - which are especially critical at this time.
"Taking a 30 per cent salary deduction will cost the Exchequer substantial sums. This would be detrimental to our NHS and other government-funded services.
"The proposed 30 per cent salary deduction over a 12-month period equates to over £500m in wage reductions and a loss in tax contributions of over £200m to the government.
"What effect does this loss of earning to the government mean for the NHS? Was this considered in the Premier League proposal and did the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock factor this in when asking players to take a salary cut?"
Furthermore, the PFA says Premier League players want to ensure their contributions support their clubs, the full remuneration of non-playing staff, the EFL and non-league clubs, as well as the NHS.
The Premier League pledged an advance of £125m to the EFL and National League as well as a £20m donation to the NHS and other community causes on Friday, but its players says neither of the payments are enough.
The PFA statement added: "(The charity money) is welcome, but we believe it could be far bigger.
"The EFL money is an advance. Importantly, it will aid cashflow in the immediate, but football needs to find a way to increase funding to the EFL and non-league clubs in the long-term.
"Many clubs require an increase in funding just to survive. We believe in our football pyramid and again stress the need for solidarity between all clubs."
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Post by rugbytoffee on Apr 6, 2020 12:38:50 GMT
Premier League players are set to start negotiations on a club-by-club basis over proposed wage cuts.
It comes after talks aimed at a collective pay deal in response to the coronavirus crisis broke down without resolution over the weekend.
The Premier League proposed a 30% pay cut, but the Professional Footballers' Association says that may harm the NHS.
The row has escalated into one of the most serious disputes between players and clubs in the league's history.
The government has said it expects the football authorities to "come together with an agreement urgently."
Writing in Monday's Telegraph, the culture secretary Oliver Dowden said "the deadlock between the PFA and the Premier League clubs on players' wage cuts is deeply concerning."
"Clubs, players and owners should be thinking very carefully about their next steps," he wrote.
"It's especially important that a disagreement over players' wages doesn't undermine all the good work that sport - including football - is doing to help the government's efforts to tackle coronavirus."
Furloughing staff: What have clubs done so far? On Saturday the Premier League told senior players that a pay cut was required because the clubs faced losses of more than £1bn if the season could not be resumed.
But with players rejecting a league-wide proposal, they are now expected to ask their own clubs to explain more about the specifics of their finances before accepting any cuts or deferrals.
Some clubs are hoping that if executives and coaches accept pay cuts, it could help persuade players - who earn an average of £3.5m a year in the Premier League - to do the same by the end of the week.
What has happened so far? Health secretary Matt Hancock was among the leading politicians calling for players to take a pay cut and "play their part."
The league wants players to take a 30% salary cut in order to "protect employment throughout the professional game".
But the union says that equates to more than £500m in wage reductions over 12 months, and a loss in tax contributions of more than £200m to the UK government.
As part of the proposals, the Premier League would advance £125m to the English Football League (EFL) and National League, and give £20m towards the NHS.
The PFA says it is happy to continue talks with the Premier League but called on the league to increase its charitable donation and long-term funding of the EFL. Players are understood to be wary of agreeing pay cuts that would help billionaire owners save money which may subsequently be spent on transfers.
Top-flight professionals have been coming under increasing pressure to take a drop in pay, especially with five Premier League clubs - Liverpool, Newcastle, Tottenham, Bournemouth and Norwich - now placing some non-playing staff on furlough leave under the government's coronavirus job retention scheme.
Premier League leaders Liverpool have faced criticism from former players and fans for furloughing non-playing staff.
However, clubs themselves are understood to have financial concerns, with Burnley saying on Saturday they faced a shortfall of £50m if the Premier League season was not completed.
The PFA said all Premier League players "will play their part in making significant financial contributions in these unprecedented times".
Captains of Premier League clubs, led by Liverpool's Jordan Henderson, have been in talks over a plan to make charitable donations.
England defender Danny Rose - on loan at Newcastle from Tottenham - said that players were keen to give up a portion of their wages to help good causes, but felt their "backs are against the wall" regarding the pressure they had faced to accept cuts.
While Derby striker Wayne Rooney has said players are in a "no-win situation".
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