09 April 2020

Southampton players become first Premier League club to defer part of their salaries

Southampton have announced their players are the first in the Premier League to agree to defer part of their salaries during the coronavirus crisis.

The south coast outfit have also revealed they will not furlough any of the staff at the club despite the English season being suspended indefinitely.

Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl, his staff and the directors at the club will defer part of their salaries along with the players until June.

In a statement on the club website, Southampton said: "Our owners, Mr Gao and Katharina Liebherr have put measures in place to ensure that all staff not deferring part of their salaries will continue to receive 100 per cent of their pay, paid in the normal way until 30th June.

"Any decision on the future beyond this date will be made in advance of this, but only when more information is known.

"In these unprecedented times we are dealing with many challenges to our business model and day-to-day operations.

"The situation is ever-evolving and we will continue to monitor and assess the impact to the club over the coming weeks before deciding any further action necessary."

Premier League players announced on Monday that they were launching a #PlayersTogether initiative to help the NHS through the COVID-19 crisis.

It comes after conflicting statements from England's footballing bodies which started with the Premier League announcing they were going to ask players to take a 30 per cent pay cut.

But the PFA then came out to say that would be detrimental to the NHS as it would have significant tax implications.

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