TheTimes8April2020

the times | Wednesday April 8 2020 2GM 59

Sport

vacuum” when Newcastle United,

Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City and

Bournemouth placed workers on

furlough. Liverpool followed suit, only

to then bow to public pressure by

reversing their decision.

Last night Knight said: “It is frankly

laughable to think that clubs are show-

ing restraint on the use of government

money to pay non-playing staff and it

flies in the face of public opinion. Liver-

pool has listened to fans, done the right

thing and changed its mind.

“It is time for the Premier League to

stop defending the indefensible. They

should be working out a way to carry on

Premier League ‘defending the indefensible’ over staff pay

to the “very real threat” of some top-

flight sides going bust. Masters said

losses were at an “unprecedented level”.

“It is important to recognise that

these decisions need to be taken with

the short, medium and long-term all in

mind,” he said. “Not only is our industry

facing losses now, but we must also base

our plans on full recovery being some

distance away.

“Ultimately, the very heavy losses

that we face will have to be dealt with or

else clubs and other enterprises who

depend on football for income will go

out of business. We do not say this light-

ly; it is a very real threat.

“We do agree with you that restraint

needs to be shown by all and we and our

clubs are doing just that. Individual

clubs will need to make these decisions

based on their own forecasts.”

Masters detailed the efforts that are

being made with regards to players ac-

cepting wage deferrals, and financial

contributions that have been made to

both the NHS and lower league clubs

already under financial pressure.

He also said the Premier League

generates “significant sums for the Ex-

chequer, most recently in excess of

£3 billion per season”.

However, he warned: “We face a

£1 billion loss, at least, if we fail to com-

plete the 2019/20 season.”

Fifa, meanwhile, has agreed on a set

of “guiding principles” for dealing with

the crisis. In a document seen by The

Times the global governing body has

agreed that contracts due to expire at

the original end date of the season

should be extended to the new end date,

while contracts due to start next season

should be put back to new start dates.

The player’s existing club will take pre-

cedence, while the transfer window will

also be shifted to fit with the new dates.

paying the wages of staff without taking

money from the government scheme.”

The DCMS release actually stated

that Masters had “defended the

decision by some clubs to use the Coro-

navirus Job Retention Scheme to pay

non-playing staff who are furloughed”.

“Julian Knight said that the purpose

of the government scheme should not

be to support the economics of Premier

League clubs,” the release added. “Sep-

arately, Chancellor Rishi Sunak was

called upon to impose a windfall tax on

Premier League clubs to recover

money to be used to reimburse non-

playing staff.”

In his letter Masters said clubs had

been acting with “restraint” in response

continued from back Masters said the
Premier League
faced a £1bn loss

Salah and Roberto Firmino combine

so beautifully? “That’s a really good

question,” he says, “I’m a really lucky

boy to play alongside these players.

It’s easy, they know when and where

and how to give you the ball,

especially so you can show your

quality. If you play alongside these

great players you just get better and

push harder and get success.”

6 Made In Senegal is available from

today for free on Rakuten TV

Lethal predator

Sadio Mané has contributed the fourth most Premier League goals and assists since his debut in

2014-15 and has been one of the sharpest shooters this season

Most Premier League goals and

assists since 2014-15

Best shot conversion in Premier League

this season

Goals Assists Percentage of shots scored Minimum of 25 shots on target

Sergio Agüero

Harry Kane

Jamie Vardy

Sadio Mané

Romelu Lukaku

Vardy

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Mané

Agüero

Danny Ings

128 30 158 total

133 20 153

99 28 127

80 29 109

81 24 105

32.2

26.2

23.2

22.2

22.1

ETSUO HARA/GETTY IMAGES

documentary shows him on the

balcony of a new building with the

locals below chanting: “Golden Ball.”

Winning the Ballon d’Or is,

perhaps surprisingly, what really

matters to Mané.

“I’m playing for the team, and the

team is most important and I’m really

happy to win trophies with my team

but at the same time it has been my

dream to win the Ballon d’Or,” he

says. “I wish to win it and I sacrifice

everything possible to win it. I have

been close and that gives me more

motivation and the people never stop

supporting me, telling me I can do

it... I think we are close and I will win

it one day.”

Winning the Premier League title

with Liverpool is much closer.

“I’m really happy to be the first

Senegal player to hopefully win the

Premier League, an honour for me.”

Can he sum up why he, Mohamed

last season and are top of the Premier League now. But there is another prize that he is aiming to win — the Ballon d’Or

to play football’

FA chief: Players and

owners must help or

clubs face oblivion

Greg Clarke has called on players and

owners to “share the pain” of saving the

game from a looming financial disaster

that the FA chairman fears will lead to

clubs and leagues going bust.

In a stark message to the FA council,

Clarke warned that the economic

impact of the coronavirus crisis on

football could be “beyond the wildest

imagination”.

Premier League clubs have been

unable to reach agreements with their

players over wage cuts or deferrals that

would help clubs to cope with lost

revenue from gate receipts and

broadcast payments. It is understood

that there are now even divisions

among players over the formation of a

separate Premier League players’ crisis

fund being set up to support the NHS

and other good causes.

The fund, which is being driven by

Jordan Henderson, the Liverpool

captain, still has widespread support

from hundreds of top-flight

professionals and Gordon Taylor, the

Professional Footballers’ Association

(PFA) chief executive, has reportedly

responded to questions about his salary

of more than £2 milllion by pledging to

donate £500,000 to the charity, which

is due to be unveiled this week.

But one Premier League captain has

told The Times that his club may look

instead to support local hospitals rather

than paying into a central fund.

Meanwhile, there remains a reluctance

among Premier League players to

commit to wage deferrals, even among

those senior representatives involved

in a call with the Premier League and

the PFA on Saturday. At least two

Premier League captains are out of

contract this summer, while players at

clubs facing possible relegation are also

nervous about agreeing to any kind of

cuts when their future is so uncertain.

“It’s like herding cats,” said one source.

Clarke, however, insisted yesterday

that everyone in football needs to come

together to protect the game, with clubs

in the lower leagues in an even more

vulnerable position. He made specific

reference to needing help from not only

players but also owners. Several Pre-

mier League clubs are owned or con-

trolled by billionaires. Without major

financial help, senior figures at the En-

glish Football League believe that a

number of clubs will go under if the

season does not resume by June or July.

Clarke said: “We face the danger of

losing clubs and leagues as finances

collapse. Many communities could lose

the clubs at their heart with little

chance of resurrection.

“Football faces economic challenges

beyond the wildest imagination of

those who run it. The pandemic will be

followed by its economic consequences

and all business sectors will suffer.

“All the stakeholders within the

game from players, fans, clubs, owners

and administrators need to step up and

share the pain to keep the game alive.

“Time is pressing as football burns

through its cash reserves with no sign

yet of a resumption of the game. It is

time for the stakeholders to agree on a

common cause to save our game.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Manches-

ter United manager, yesterday labelled

calls from politicians for players to take

pay cuts as “unfair”. “Football is an easy

target sometimes,” Solskjaer said on

Sky Sports. “For me it’s unfair to call on

any individual, or footballers as a group,

because I already know players do a

great amount of work in the communi-

ty, and players are doing a lot to help.”

Clarke also said every attempt would

be made to finish the season but the

prospect of failing to do so needed to be

confronted. “We must have a plan to

ensure that English football is not

decimated should this season be lost

and next season blighted,” he said.

Players and their advisers remain

sceptical about the impact the crisis

could have on Premier League clubs,

which explains their reluctance to

agree to wage cuts. They would prefer

salary deferrals, with the promise of

being reimbursed. Clubs want to repay

players in full only if the season can be

completed and in front of crowds.

The cost to the Premier League of not

finishing the season in television reve-

nue has been put at about £762 million,

the sum broadcasters might be owed if

matches cannot be played. The tender

for the next Premier League TV deal, to

run for three years from 2022, is due

this autumn and some insiders are con-

vinced that a deal can be struck that

avoids a full rebate for Sky and BT.

In the lower leagues, however, the

dangers are more real. Yesterday,

Sunderland and Crewe Alexandra

announced that they have now

furloughed players.

Martyn Ziegler, Matt Lawton

Clarke is worried

that some clubs

may not survive