Tottenham Hotspur impose 20% pay cut on non-playing staff
Tottenham Hotspur have imposed a 20 per cent pay cut on 550 non-playing employees in April and May due to the coronavirus pandemic, the English Premier League club said yesterday.
Chairman Daniel Levy said in a statement the move was to protect jobs and Spurs planned to use a government furlough scheme where appropriate.
He hoped also that talks between the EPL and players' and managers' associations would result in players and managers "doing their bit for the football ecosystem".
"When I read or hear stories about player transfers this summer like nothing has happened, people need to wake up to the enormity of what is happening around us," said Levy.
"With over 786,000 infected, (more than) 38,000 deaths and large segments of the world in lockdown, we need to realise that football cannot operate in a bubble.
"We may be the eighth-largest club in the world by revenue according to the Deloitte survey, but all that historical data is totally irrelevant as this virus has no boundaries."
Earlier yesterday, Newcastle United became the first EPL club to place their non-playing staff on temporary leave or furlough.
British finance minister Rishi Sunak announced last month that furloughed workers can claim 80 per cent of their wages, up to £2,500 (S$4,400) per month.
Levy said the north London club's operations had effectively ceased, some fans had lost their jobs and sponsors were concerned about their businesses.
Meanwhile, Spurs still had an annual cost base running into hundreds of millions of pounds.
Other major European clubs such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus have also reduced their costs with countries in lockdown to combat the spread of the virus.- REUTERS
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