Karren Brady hits out at PFA for ‘unthinkable’ coronavirus Premier League stance

West Ham chief Karren Brady has hit at the Professional Footballers' Association for suggesting Premier League stars should not accept salary cuts amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Top-flight clubs are due to speak to the PFA on Saturday over proposals that would see players take a 30 per cent pay cut to assist with the payment of non-playing staff during the pandemic.

Stars and clubs have come under fire after some furloughed non-playing staff without looking at players' wages during the Covid-19 crisis.

Following a meeting of Premier League shareholders on Friday, it was confirmed talks will be held with a view to wage cuts.

Before those crisis meetings, however, the PFA had suggested that players were unwilling to take cuts – a stance which has frustrated Brady.

Writing in her column for The Sun, Brady said: "With no date for restarting the league, this is having  severe financial implications.

"Bearing in mind the  majority of the broadcast revenue goes to pay the players’ wages it is unthinkable that the PFA don’t seem to understand this.

"They seem to suggest that the players taking a pay cut means the money somehow goes into the owners pockets which is totally ridiculous.

"I applaud Andros Townsend's tirade against  people who make players out as “villains” just as I dislike the PFA claim that a pay cut settlement will “only serve the shareholders’ interests”.

"The PFA may believe its responsibilities end with the players but they really don’t, they owe a great deal to the structure of professional football as well."

Football has come under increasing scrutiny as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to escalate, with health secretary Matt Hancock taking aim at top-flight players' supposed inaction in Thursday's daily briefing.

But discussions between Premier League players were under way days before those comments and it is understood that the captains of all 20 Premier League clubs held a meeting – led by Liverpool's Jordan Henderson – on Friday to discuss the situation.

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