English Football League Proposes Player Pay Deferrals in Response to Coronavirus Pandemic

After weeks of back and forth debate, the English Football League and Footballers’ Association have suggested that clubs should defer 25% of player’s wages for the past month, due to the impact of the Coronavirus.

Football throughout England has been suspended indefinitely due to the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic, and clubs in the so-called football league, which encompasses the second, third and fourth tiers of the country’s professional divisions, are set to be the worst-hit financially.

Teams in the third and fourth tiers of English football are believed to be near unanimous in their willingness to accept the wage deferral proposals, but those in the second tier will be given more individual leeway.

In the Premier League; the top flight of English football the situation has not been so straightforward, as the division’s management suggestions that universal thirty percent wage reduction should be implemented, has been rejected, with clubs also set to decide on their own terms which course of action to take.

Players had claimed that reducing their wages would actually not help contribute to funding the UKs NHS; one of the major points of contention, as it would lead to decreased taxable income and hence less money for hospitals and other medical services as a result.

Conversely; critics of players argue that other staff members on lower wages, such as coaches and groundskeepers, should not be forced to use the British Government’s furloughing scheme whilst those on the pitch continue to pocket large salaries, despite not playing a single minute of game time.