Pro footballers, just like you and me, are workers. They're not 'role models' or 'ambassadors' or paid by the state.
Yes they get eye-wateringly obscene wages and yes, they could probaby afford to take a temporary wage cut. But demanding they take one is wrong.
I am being stupid but arent players contracts between the player and the club ? Of City are happy to honor the contract and the player is why should the premier league get involved. Now if some clubs cant afford to honor the contract between player and club, it's down the player and club to sort out .....isnt it ?
What I think is wrong is the taxpayer picking up the bill for a companies low paid workers, while its highest paid workers continued to get paid either in full or at 70% of their wage.
The club/player contracts are irrelevant in the face of a national health & economic disaster. Unenforcable.
City are one of a few clubs that can fall back on their owner to fund player wages along with non playing workers so to be fair its a more general issue than what happens at City, that being said I'd be very surprised if our players did not support whatever measures are needed.
The wording of that statement from the PL and comments like those attributed to Andros Townsend are symptoms of the PR disaster that Football is heading for.
The facts are that the players can and should be using their privileged situations to help the general population as can many other high net worth individuals. We already know that people like Branson, Green, Ashley etc are greedy scum but they are not the only HNWI's so lets see who steps up.
We'll find out what our (and other) players are really made of as human beings over the upcoming period. So far our club has behaved impecably and that gives me some assurance that people will do the right thing.
Spurs & Newcastle (there may be others that we don't know about yet) have shown themselves (as clubs and owners of clubs) to be opportunistic scum and we should all remember that.
I'm looking for these people to do the right thing, if they don't then I'm finished with professional football.