Liverpool on Monday were forced to apologize as the English Premier League club ditched their controversial plan to furlough non-playing staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, while FIFA urged players and clubs to reach agreement over wage reductions.
Liverpool faced stinging criticism from fans and former players after revealing over the weekend that the club planned use the British government’s furlough scheme.
Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool’s US-based owners, wanted to put about 200 employees on enforced leave while the British government paid 80 percent of their wages.
Fellow top-flight teams Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, AFC Bournemouth and Norwich City have already furloughed staff, but it was table-toppers Liverpool — with a pretax profit of ￡42 million (US$51.8 million) for last season — who came in for the most criticism, in part due to their reputation as a club with a strong bond to Merseyside’s working-class community.
The fierce backlash sparked a sudden climbdown as Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore wrote an open letter to supporters announcing that the club would opt for “alternative means” to the furlough route after consulting “key stakeholders.”
“We believe we came to the wrong conclusion last week to announce that we intended to apply to the Coronavirus Retention Scheme and furlough staff due to the suspension of the Premier League football calendar, and are truly sorry for that,” Moore wrote.
With the Premier League postponed indefinitely because of the coronavirus outbreak, Manchester City and Manchester United said that they would not be using the British government’s job-retention scheme.
Liverpool’s U-turn came as England’s top-flight teams, among the richest in the world, were under increasing scrutiny, with British government ministers warning bosses and players they should “think carefully” over their next moves.
FIFA on Monday urged clubs and players to reach agreement on taking wage reductions to protect clubs who are suffering financial damage, sources said.
It also recommended that players’ contracts be extended until the end of the interrupted seasons and that the transfer window should not open until that time.
The call from FIFA came as Premier League clubs were 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.
Many politicians have urged action from the Premier League and in a poll conducted last week, 92 percent of respondents said they backed pay cuts, but some leading players resent the political pressure.
Former England captain Wayne Rooney has criticized the British government and the Premier League for placing players in a “no-win” situation.
“In my opinion it is now a no-win situation,” Rooney wrote in a newspaper column. “Whatever way you look at it, we’re easy targets.”
Meanwhile, Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) chief executive Gordon Taylor, head of the English players’ union, said that he would not take a cut to his ￡2 million salary.
“The PFA will make donations and the PFA is involved in the players’ charity,” Taylor told the Guardian when asked if he would accept a reduction in salary.
Taylor added that his members believed the Premier League’s suggestion of a proposed 30 percent wage reduction across all top-flight clubs was impractical given the teams’ differing financial positions.
“You can’t have one suit fitting all sizes because there is such a variance in income and expenditure,” he said.
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