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Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane He has told players at the top clubs in the Premier League to ignore the pressure to take pay cuts during the coronavirus crisis.
English football has been halted since mid-March in an attempt to curb the spread of Covid-19 and clubs at all levels are feeling the pressure.
The Premier League bosses, who will meet with the clubs next week, are committed to ending the season, but there is no indication when it will resume.
Britain, closed until at least May 7, has been one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, with more than 18,000 hospital deaths.
Earlier this month, senior clubs agreed to consult with their players about deferrals and reductions amounting to 30 percent of their salary, but only a handful of clubs.
So far, only Arsenal have agreed to a 12.5 percent pay cut, while players from Southampton, West Ham, Sheffield United and Watford must defer part of their salary.
Keane, the former assistant assistant manager for Ireland, acknowledged the pressure on the players to cut wages, but said he would not if they placed him in a similar position.
“The way I see it now, particularly after the way I left Manchester United, I would not receive a pay cut from anyone if I was at one of the bigger clubs,” he told Sky Sports.
“I know there is pressure on the players, but it is nobody’s business what you do with your salary.”
Keane believes billionaire club owners should be put more pressure on them to meet their salary bills than players.
“If they want to keep their guns and say they want their full salary when you have a billionaire in the background, do it,” Keane added.
“Don’t be swayed by some kind of media pressure, which still writes lies about certain players.”
There is general acceptance among Premier League clubs that matches will be played behind closed doors if competition can be resumed, with restrictions on mass gatherings likely to remain in place for the foreseeable future.
The Premier League said they were working on a series of complex scenarios, fearing that not finishing the season could cost him more than a billion pounds.
Keane’s former United teammate Gary Neville said the Premier League should borrow against future television revenue to safeguard the financial survival of English football.
“Future revenue is in the tens of billions in the Premier League and more if they wanted to extend their television contracts,” said Neville, also co-owner of League Two Salford City.
“The idea of basically borrowing at the moment £ 300 or £ 400 million, £ 500 million, which is more than an affordable number, to make a gentle deal with a bank on a loan to grant the FA (Football Association) the EFL (English Football League), the players, whoever it is, the National League needs £ 15m.
“I have gone from opportunity to despair to almost now begging someone in the Premier League to do the right thing for the game.”
“There are 20 clubs in the league,” he said on Sky. “They have to. The Premier League and the clubs are the only people who can prevent this from becoming a cheap butcher shop and saving fans at the lowest levels.”
Gary Hoffman has been named the new president of the Premier League. The provisional appointment will take place Claudia Arney on June 1.
