Coronavirus: Football Clubs Refusing To Cut Player Pay Should Face 'Windfall Tax' - MP
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Football clubs who force staff to take a 20% wage cut while shelling out huge sums to pay players should face a windfall tax, MPs have said.
Premier League giants have been accused of living in a “moral vacuum” after it emerged some swooped on a coronavirus job retention scheme to furlough staff during the lockdown.
The plan, introduced by chancellor Rishi Sunak, sees the government pay 80% of staff wages and was designed to stop firms laying off staff during the pandemic.
But some clubs who have cashed in on the scheme are continuing to pay first-team players – some of whom are millionaires – hundreds of thousands of pounds a week.
Now the Tory chair of a powerful Commons committee, MP Julian Knight, has demanded Sunak impose a windfall tax on clubs with a “two-tier system” who shortchange staff.
Knight says Sunak should give clubs a deadline of April 7, saying bosses should “do the right thing by Tuesday next week or face the consequences”.
Tottenham, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Norwich have so far opted for the scheme.
Knight has written to Sunak underlining MPs’ “strong dismay” at clubs’ conduct adding: “This two-tier system is morally wrong, especially given the extremely high wages paid to players.
“Non-playing staff keep Premier League clubs in business, ensuring the smooth running of finances, administration, kit, stadiums and player welfare. It is deeply unfair that these staff should take less money home while players retain their full salary.”
Knight, who chairs the digital, culture, media and sport select committee, points out that the coronavirus job retention scheme is “not to support the economics
of Premier League clubs”.
The letter is signed by a number of fellow committee members from across the political spectrum.
“We are facing an obscene situation where top players who aren’t...
