Matt Maher: Players will be the ones who make decision
Almost from the moment the sport ground to a halt, now nearly two months ago, it was clear the bulk of the burden for bailing out football would likely fall on players.
Over the past few years it is they, most particularly those in the Premier League, who have collected the majority of the game’s riches.
The figures were spelled out by EFL chairman Rick Parry earlier this week when giving evidence to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
In 2018, he explained, the Premier League as a collective received £3billion from broadcasters and paid out £2.9bn in wages.
Parry used the sums to draw comparison with the madness of the Football League, which received only £100m in TV revenue, yet still paid out £1bn in wages.
The general point stands that, at almost every level of the professional game, money comes into a club and then almost immediately goes out to players. Little is kept in reserve.
It is why clubs in the richest league in the world so suddenly found themselves on an unsure footing when the coronavirus pandemic took hold. The players were always going to be the ones best placed to help ease the financial strain, as many have done since through wage deferrals.
Judging by Parry’s comments to the DCMS, the EFL may soon be asking for more. The clear message is some kind of rescue package will be needed to help the league avoid a financial crisis later in the year. They are looking to the Premier League for assistance but otherwise it is the players who will need to help out.
Like any other employee asked to take a salary reduction or deferral, players will be entitled to ask where the money will be spent. They would also be entitled to point out they are not the ones who built such a risky model and question what changes are planned to remedy that, once the crisis is over.
In truth, any misgivings over finances players might currently have pale in comparison to concerns over the health risks of returning to action during a pandemic.
Asking players to ease the bottom line is one thing. Asking them to put their health and that of their families on the line is quite another. Yet that is what a number of players fear they might be asked to do should football try to resume before they feel it is safe to do so.
Over the past couple of weeks, it has often been claimed the final decision over Project Restart would be made by the government.
That is not quite right. Of course, the Premier League requires any plan for resumption to have government approval. But the final say was always going to lie with the players and at this moment it appears they may take some convincing.
“The majority of players are scared because they have children and families,” said Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero last weekend. Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane expressed concerns money would be prioritised over health.
Players are only human and, like any section of society, opinions will vary. Not all will share Aguero and Hourihane’s concern, though conversations over the past few days suggest the pervading mood is at best characterised by apprehension.
Whatever protocols are introduced, full protection against infection can never be guaranteed. Villa chief executive Christian Purslow said it was “absolutely certain” players would test positive for coronavirus in the coming months.
At some soon point, probably in the next week, they will be presented with the Premier League’s case. Only then can they decide whether playing football is worth all the risk.
