PRE-VIRUS, if anyone remembers, I suspect many like me were extremely unhappy at the growing gap of the wealth/poverty divide in our country. Football, I'm afraid, was one example where an agent could earn more in a fee for a big transfer than the ordinary person in the street could only aspire to in their whole working lifetime.
Almost obscene salary levels were sustained by TV payments and huge weekly gate monies, the former generated by advertising which in turn was paid for by Joe Bloggs. One can therefore imagine my absolute disgust to hear that football clubs, often owned by wealthy business magnates, were seeking to avail themselves of our tax contributions by dumping their non-football staff on to our responsibility for wages. Meanwhile our professional footballers continue to receive thousands of pounds per week for doing nothing when the less wealthy are laid off.
Having said this, they are not alone. We all seem to be obsessed with our own problems and have conveniently forgotten farmers in Africa and Asia who have lost everything to locus swarms and children still dying of starvation in Yemen while food rots in barns because of civil war.
James Watson, Dunbar.
I HAD to laugh at your Sport section headline today: "Scotland's leading men take wage hit" (April 1). It seems some of our football bosses are actually taking a 10 per cent salary cut while the pandemic is with us. Now, if that lasts six months they will lose all of five per cent – big deal.
I would also suggest that all our grossly over-paid footballers in the UK are made to take a 50 per cent salary cut and be given employment in market gardens. That could improve their diet, fitness, and, heaven forbid, even produce a little humility.
Norman Adams, Giffnock.
IT is outrageous that English Premiership football clubs are expecting the taxpayer to meet 80 per cent of the wages of non-playing staff whilst continuing to pay an average salary to players of £60,000 per week. The Government should refuse to make these payments and force clubs to reduce these ridiculous salaries to players and divert this money to other staff.
The country can no longer afford to have people who are excessively rich when the state is required to support the average earner whose annual income is only half of what these football players earn in one week.
Bill Eadie, Giffnock.
PLAYERS, support staff and management of rugby throughout the world are taking pay cuts and the SRU senior management is taking "deferrals". This is a scandalous situation at a time like this. I will not be renewing my Glasgow Warriors subscriptions for next season. I want to see Scottish rugby improve, not the senior management defer their inflated salaries whilst a worldwide pandemic is in full flow and every other person in the country will be financially affected and possibly unemployed.
Ian Cameron, Glasgow G13.
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