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Gary Lineker criticises Tottenham's decision to slash wages of non-playing staff during coronavirus lockdown

Lineker also believes Premier League players will also take a reduction: Getty Images
Lineker also believes Premier League players will also take a reduction: Getty Images

Gary Lineker has criticised former club Tottenham for the decision to cut the pay of all 550 non-playing staff by 20 per cent and utilise the government's furlough scheme.

Spurs, who followed Newcastle in their announcement that they will look to take advantage of the furlough measures on offer from the government, have taken heavy criticism following the decision.

The players are, so far, unaffected, though talks between the Premier League, Football League and Professional Footballers' Association are continuing to find a consistent agreement on the deferral of their wages.

"The way Tottenham have handled it I don't think has been very good," Lineker, who has donated two months' wages to the British Red Cross, told BBC Radio 4. "What they are doing to their staff I don't agree with whatsoever.

"But that is a separate issue to what the players do. It's the club that has said that the players are going to carry on with their wages, but let's see how the players react to it."

In a statement earlier this week, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said: "The club has an annual cost base running into hundreds of millions of pounds.

"We have seen some of the biggest clubs in the world such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus take steps to reduce their costs. Yesterday, having already taken steps to reduce costs, we ourselves made the difficult decision – in order to protect jobs – to reduce the remuneration of all 550 non-playing directors and employees for April and May by 20% utilising, where appropriate, the Government’s furlough scheme."

There has been growing pressure on Premier League players to volunteer a reduction in their enormous salaries in order to support lower earners at the club and - in some cases - protect the future of clubs.

Players at Birmingham City have already taken a cut while the Leeds United squad volunteered to take a deferral and Brentford are close to confirming a similar agreement.

At another of Lineker's former clubs, Barcelona, players have taken a cut of more than 70 per cent to their wages. Though the former England international is confident players in England will follow suit.

"I think a lot of footballers will do something, and I think there will be a lot of announcements at clubs," he said.

"My inkling is that footballers will take pay cuts, they will help out in communities, they will make donations in whatever way they can, and I think we need to be a little bit patient with them."

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