GARY Neville today slammed the “f***ing cheek” of Matt Hancock for calling on Premier League stars to take pay cuts during the coronavirus crisis.
The Health Secretary last night warned football clubs that “everyone needs to do their bit” in the battle against the virus.
Gary Neville slammed Matt Hancock for targeting Premier League players with his comments about pay cuts
Matt Hancock last night warned Premier League players needed to do their bit
But the Manchester United legend, 45, hit out at the Health Secretary for not keeping up with coronavirus testing and for taking aim at Premier League players.
Writing on Twitter, he said: “I wish I was a player for 10 more mins.
“The PL players are more than likely working on a proposal to help clubs , communities and The NHS. It takes longer than 2 weeks to put together.
“Matt Hancock calling them out when he can’t get tests in place for NHS staff is a f@@@@@g cheek!”
It comes after several clubs made staff take massive pay cuts, but refusing to cut the multi-million pound salaries of their players during the crisis.
This includes a host of top clubs such as Tottenham, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Norwich.
And the Health Secretary said everyone needed to contribute during the pandemic.
He added: “That means Premier League footballers too.
“The first thing they can do is make a contribution, take a pay cut and play their part”.
After the briefing, the Professional Football Association said in a statement it now agrees players should ‘share the burden’.
The players’ union said in a statement: “We fully accept that players will have to be flexible and share the financial burden of the Covid-19 outbreak in order to secure the long-term future of their own club and indeed the wider game.
“Our advice going out to players at this point reflects that expectation.”
It come as the powerful Commons Culture committee blasted clubs for living in a “moral vacuum” by taking advantage of the Government’s taxpayer-funded job retention scheme.
A number of clubs have placed a number of their non-playing staff on leave, meaning 80 per cent of their wages will be paid by the taxpayer, while so far continuing to pay their players their full multi-million pound salaries in what has been described a ‘two-tier’ system.
The Government scheme is designed to persuade employers not to lay off their staff during the shutdown and to keep workers attached to their place of work so they can restart immediately after the restrictions are lifted.
The state will cover 80 per cent of the wages of furloughed staff during the lockdown period – up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.
Newcastle was the first Premier League club to announce it would take advantage of the job retention scheme, placing all of its non-playing and coaching staff on leave.