Tottenham Hotspur slammed after staff given a 20% pay cut
Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has slammed his old club for using the British government's furlough scheme to make 550 Spurs employees take a 20 per cent pay cut.
A measure to help workers hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the scheme guarantees 80 per cent of employees' income, up to a maximum of £2,500 (S$4,400) a month.
Spurs players, meanwhile, have not seen their significantly higher wages cut as football across most of the globe has been suspended due to the virus.
Redknapp told The Sun: "I can't believe it. Surely players should be taking a cut. This isn't for big clubs like Tottenham.
"I thought the government were going to pay ordinary people who are struggling...
"But you are talking here about a club where their players earn £10-12 million a year.
"Tottenham are owned by Joe Lewis, one of the richest men in the world, and his club are cutting the wages of all their non-football staff by 20 per cent. I can't believe it...
"They can all afford to hand over 10 per cent and I'd like to see the captain of every Premier League club call a meeting and say, 'Come on, guys, we are all in it together, let's donate to help our staff'."
Spurs' chairman Daniel Levy is the best paid CEO in the English Premier League, according to the Daily Mail.
They reported that in addition to his £4 million-a-year salary, he received a £3m bonus for the successful completion of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour told talkSPORT: "The timing of Daniel Levy getting a £3m bonus is absolutely horrendous.
"Then he has deferred pay from some of Spurs staff. These people need the money to live on. Lives are at stake - that is what is wrong in football at the moment."
With Newcastle United and Norwich City also using the furlough scheme, British politicians have accused EPL clubs of living in a "moral vacuum".
Said Julian Knight, chair of the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee: "This exposes the crazy economics in English football and the moral vacuum at its centre."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan told the BBC: "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."
Despite players at top European clubs like Bayern Munich, Juventus and Barcelona taking pay cuts, talks between the EPL and the Professional Footballers' Association over potential wage cuts or deferrals failed to reach an agreement yesterday.
However, Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe on Wednesday became the first EPL manager to take a voluntary pay cut.
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