Earlier today, Liverpool announced that they would be placing non-playing staff on furlough leave.
In a statement on their website – which you can read in full here – the club confirmed that they would be turning to the UK Government to cover 80% of wages.
Last month the Reds announced that they would be paying the wages of all their staff throughout the suspension of English football, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is believed that the wages of Liverpool’s non-paying staff tot up to around £1million, as per the Echo – that means they will now be leaning on the Government to cover around £400,000pcm in wages they owe staff.
The club will be topping up the remaining 20% themselves, to be fair, but taking so much the big pot of money everyone needs to share from is such a departure from the club’s civic values.
Liverpool made a pre-tax profit of £42million and increased turnover to £533million in 2018/19 and, according to the Telegraph’s Paul Hayward, gave £43million to agents.
It was only 27 Feb when Liverpool announced they made a pre-tax profit of £42m and increased turnover to £533m in 2018/19.
— Andy Hunter (@AHunterGuardian) April 4, 2020
The Government set up this coronavirus fund for businesses that will struggle to pay their staff when there isn’t a steady influx of cash – billionaires should not take advantage.
The rest of the Premier League are more-than-likely going to follow suit, but it’s such a horrible surprise to see the Reds act so cutthroat on this one.
The suits at Anfield massively dropped the ball here, and I think they need to take a long look at themselves in the mirror and remember who they are representing.