Premier League clubs receive flack while FIFA push on for pay cuts

Premier League clubs are receiving flack after Liverpool tapped into public funds during the coronavirus pandemic while FIFA on Monday urged players and clubs to reach agreement over wage reductions.

English top-flight clubs, among the wealthiest in the world, have come under intense scrutiny, with government ministers warning bosses and players they should "think carefully" over their next moves.

The average salary for a Premier League footballer is more than £3 million a year, according to the 2019 Global Sports Salaries Survey.

Oliver Dowden, a culture and sports minister, writing in the Daily Telegraph, said people had a right to expect leadership from football.

"Clubs, players and owners should be thinking very carefully about their next steps," he said.

"Leaving the public purse to pick up the cost of furloughing low-paid workers, whilst players earn millions and billionaire owners go untouched is something I know the public will rightly take a very dim view of."

Pay-cut impasse 

FIFA recommended that players' contracts be extended until the end of the interrupted football seasons and that the transfer window should not open until that time.

The call from FIFA comes as Premier League clubs are locked in talks with players and their representatives about taking pay cuts.

The English top-flight is lagging behind other European leagues. In Spain, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid players have agreed to pay cuts of 70 percent.

Former England captain Wayne Rooney has criticised the government and the Premier League for placing footballers in a "no-win" situation.

"In my opinion it is now a no-win situation," he said in a newspaper column. "Whatever way you look at it, we're easy targets."

With no collective agreement in sight Premier League players were set to start negotiations on a club-by-club basis over proposed wage cuts.

Burnley manager Sean Dyche said footballers deserved more credit for the work they do to help good causes -- efforts that, he said, are often little publicised.

"I have seen footballers do so many good things, so many things financially, so many things with time, care effort and attention," he told Talksport radio.

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