FA chief executive Mark Bullingham outlined the cost-saving measures in a message to staff which was also published on the governing body’s website. Gareth Southgate, manager of England’s men’s national team, is reportedly sacrificing UK£225,000 (AU$451,407) over the next three months under the plan.
Bullingham proposed that staff earning more than UK£50,000 (AU$100,312) annually should take a cut of 7.5 per cent.
“In the spirit of those on higher salaries taking the greater responsibility, the senior management team have agreed to cut their pay by 15 per cent with the highest earners in the organisation agreeing to reduce their pay by up to 30 per cent,” Bullingham said.
The FA’s announcement comes after the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), the English players’ union, hit back at British government calls for players to take salary cuts and called for clarity on clubs’ plans for the money saved on wages.
UK health secretary Matt Hancock continued his attacks on football players over the weekend.
“The hospices of this country have traditionally been largely funded by charity and charity shops,” he told ITV News.
“Those shops have had to close so I’m putting more money – taxpayer’s money – into hospices to support them but why don’t our footballers club together and support our hospices and support the national effort that we’re all in?”
Those comments came after Hancock urged top-flight professionals to “take a pay cut and play their part” last week.
On 3rd April, the English Premier League suggested players take a 30 per cent wage cut or deferral, only for the PFA to issue a statement saying such a move could result in a UK£200 million (AU$401 million) tax deficit.
While the PFA insists its members want to make ‘significant financial contributions’, the players’ union warned the government that the Premier League’s suggested 30 per cent cut of an annual remuneration amounts to UK£500 million (AU$1.3 billion), of which around 40 per cent would be contributed to tax.
The PFA joined the Premier League, League Managers Association (LMA) and representatives from all clubs on a conference call on 4th April but nothing was agreed.
Talks will continue this week and PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor has implored clubs to give the detailed financial information they had been expecting in order to make sure money goes to the right places.
“I think if they can’t do that and explain the position fully then they have every right to expect players to mistrust what is happening,” he said.
Asked if players were concerned about where the money would go, Taylor said: “Exactly that. They want the complete due diligence. They’re not stupid. They’ve not just got their brains in their feet. They want to know the reasons for it and where it’s going.”
The issue of football players pay has become a hot topic in the UK since top-flight clubs started placing some non-playing staff on the government’s furlough scheme.
Liverpool have become the fifth Premier League club to embrace that framework, but reigning champions Manchester City have confirmed that they will not be furloughing employees at the tax payer’s expense.
Manchester United’s players will donate 30 per cent of one month’s wages to local hospitals and health services in the first major coronavirus gesture from a full Premier League squad.
Chairman Ed Woodward approached captain Harry Maguire with the idea, according to the Daily Mail, and it was given full backing by the players.
United are continuing to pay all match day staff during the crisis and have not sought to use the government’s furlough scheme designed to help struggling companies protect jobs.
