Wage deferral for football clubs on the agenda for meeting
Professional footballers across the West Midlands could see their pay cut as part of a collective wage deferral.
The proposal is among several set to be debated today when Premier League and EFL clubs meet with the Professional Footballers Association to discuss ways of alleviating the financial pressures of the coronavirus shutdown.
Both Birmingham and Leeds have already asked players to give up part of their wages for the next few months in order to ease the burden on both clubs.
Newcastle and Tottenham have, meanwhile, placed all of their non-playing staff on furlough and it is claimed several Premier League clubs are eager to reach a collective agreement to defer players’ wages.
Wolves, Albion and Villa all last week indicated they had no plans to ask players to take a reduction in pay. It is thought the PFA are also likely to argue against any attempt to cut wages across the board.
Both the Premier League and EFL are currently suspended until April 30, but are not expected to return until some time later and clubs are concerned by the possible financial impact.
Today’s meeting will also consider any updates from Uefa, who were due to hold a teleconference involving all 55 member nations this morning.
They were expected to discuss the latest proposals for how best to conclude the season, though no firm decisions were expected with most of the continent currently still locked down due to the virus.
Away from the coronavirus crisis, Wolves have been fined nearly £9,000 by Uefa after being blamed for February’s Europa League tie at Espanyol kicking off late. Wolves must pay £8,858 (10,000 Euros) after the match kicked off a couple of minutes late. Espanyol have been warned over insufficient segregation.
