The First Of Many

Hearts Football Club in Scotland has delivered an ultimatum to it's players. Accept a 50 % cut in your wages otherwise they will suspend them anyway. The club has little choice as they are set to hemorrhage £1 Million per month for every month the season is on hold.

Hearts like most clubs have expenses that don't just magically disappear as you have commitments to uphold each month. I wrote about Barcelona the other day where the players refuse to even consider a wage cut. This first step taken in this manner may open the flood gates for others to follow. I suspect they have all been waiting for someone to jump first.

I think what Hearts is done is commendable as the club has to come first. The manager has already agreed to work for no money whilst there is no football. I think this is an olive branch on his part as they look like they could be relegated so he is showing some form of loyalty hoping to keep his position for next season. Desperate times call for desperate measures and a wise move possibly.

More and more clubs will surely follow suit as the weeks tick by. The peak of the virus is estimated to be around July in the UK so there are many months with no income yet to pass. I expect the Premiership Clubs have been looking at how to make ends meet and are already in talks with their players.

During the week the England Rugby Union has reduced it's wage bill by 25% with everyone agreeing a reduced salary. I am sure all the sports that have paid athletes have been considering such moves. Lewis Hamilton is meant to be negotiating his contract for next season so possibly not a great time right now. He is reported to be asking for a whopping £48 Million per season from Mercedes.

Money doesn't grow on trees and the longer this goes on the more severe the problem becomes. I don't have any sympathy for the players or coaching staff as they are all looked after rather well. The ones I do worry about are the normal people who do the work who go unseen behind the scenes at each sporting club. These people can't afford wage cuts and I hope they are not included in this as it is not exactly the same thing as that would be totally unfair.