FURIOUS Prem clubs are poised to today reject Government demands for them to pay a £250million bailout to keep the EFL alive.
And the clubs are adamant they will not back down UNLESS they are allowed to open the turnstiles and let fans return to grounds.
Clubs are furious at Oliver Dowden’s attempts to make them pay upCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The 20 “shareholder” clubs will meet virtually to show a determined and united front after growing increasingly angry at the attempts by Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden to “railroad” them into stumping up the survival cash.
And the clubs believe they have extra ammunition after a cross-party group of influential MPs plus two former FA chairmen said the Government, not the Prem, had an obligation to step in and prevent the imminent “collapse” of the English league system.
Clubs at both ends of the Prem financial scale erupted in fury in the wake of Dowden’s suggestion they should “help poorer clubs rather than spend huge amounts hiring a new striker”.
Why are we expected to bail out the EFL when the Government doesn’t ask Sainsbury’s to keep the corner shops going.
One Prem chairman
The publication of a new study which predicts Prem clubs will be responsible for 99 per cent of Europe’s entire international market transfer “losses” — of £698m this summer — will add weight to Dowden’s argument.
But clubs and League chiefs privately accused Dowden and the Government of “hypocrisy” after three months of non-stop work towards the planned October 1 re-opening date, which was suddenly scrapped by PM Boris Johnson last week.
They had begun to budget for some gate income but feel the U-turn left them stranded, while it also added to the outrage of seeing themselves made a scapegoat by the Government.
One chairman pointedly said: “We had no advance notice of what was a completely ridiculous and wrong decision.
“Why are we expected to bail out the EFL when the Government doesn’t ask Sainsbury’s to keep the corner shops going? Especially when we have got nothing back in return.”
Prem chief executive Richard Masters has already stated the 20 clubs have seen £700m in income disappear.
Now those same clubs are being ordered to help fill the £250m void in EFL finances, with chairman Rick Parry confirming his 72 clubs need £20m per month between them to survive.
The Prem clubs argue that transfer fees to EFL sides have earned them some £100m this summer, with more money set to be spent before the window closes next Monday.
League bosses already agreed to forward advance “solidarity” payments to the EFL, despite their own slashed incomes.
As SunSport has revealed, the Prem clubs believe it would be wrong to simply write a cheque without cast-iron guarantees over how the money would be spent.
Some are also concerned they are effectively being asked to give money to Championship clubs who will be strengthened as rivals as a result next season.
The increasingly aggressive stance comes as the letter, co-signed by ten MPs, including former Tory Deputy Prime Minister Damian Green and ex-Wembley chiefs Lord Triesman and Greg Dyke, slammed the Government.
They said: “Without any plans being made to rescue football, this could lead not only to the failure of many historic clubs, but the collapse of the national league structure we have known for over 100 years.
“The Government needs to take responsibility.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
