Chairman Daniel Levy is one of 550 non-playing staff at Tottenham taking a pay cut to “protect jobs” amid the coronavirus crisis.
Spurs have also followed Newcastle in furloughing – a scheme in which an employee does not work but gets 80 per cent of their salary paid for the next two months by the government – some staff “where appropriate”.
“The club’s operations have effectively ceased, some of our fans will have lost their jobs and most will be worried about their future,” Levy warned.
“We have seen some of the biggest clubs in the world such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus take steps to reduce their costs.
“Yesterday, having already taken steps to reduce costs, we ourselves made the difficult decision – in order to protect jobs – to reduce the remuneration of all 550 non-playing directors and employees for April and May by 20 per cent utilising, where appropriate, the Government’s furlough scheme. We shall continue to review this position.”
Levy’s reference to Barcelona regards their squad agreeing to a 70 per cent cut to the salaries, as Spain reels from the spread of the virus, and he said he hopes to see relevant authorities encourage players and managers to follow suit in forgoing part of their salaries.
Levy’s statement addressed the potential for a similar scenario happening in English football, as he said: “We hope the current discussions between the Premier League, PFA and LMA will result in players and coaches doing their bit for the football eco system.”
(Sky Sports)
