Tottenham Hotspur place all non-playing staff on furlough amid Covid-19 outbreak

31 March 2020, 22:06

Tottenham Hotspur have placed all 550 of their non-playing staff on furlough to cope with the financial strain of coronavirus.

In a statement, chairman Daniel Levy confirmed the club was turning to the government furlough scheme to "protect jobs".

Those involved are set to be paid 80 per cent of their wages through April and May at the very least and the decision will also be continually reviewed if the financial struggle continues into the summer.

Mr Levy said: "The decision by governments around the world to effectively close down economies with unheard of peacetime impacts on civil liberties in order to minimise the terrible effects of the Covid-19 pandemic is the right one to protect human lives.

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"The crushing devastation on industries in many countries, the inter-dependence of international trade and travel in every aspect of our daily life is only now beginning to be felt. Every person on this planet will be affected and in my lifetime I cannot think of something so impactful.

"When I read or hear stories about player transfers this summer like nothing has happened, people need to wake up to the enormity of what is happening around us.

"With over 786,000 infected, nearly 38,000 deaths and large segments of the world in lockdown we need to realise that football cannot operate in a bubble.

"We may be the eighth largest club in the world by revenue according to the Deloitte survey but all that historical data is totally irrelevant as this virus has no boundaries."

It was revealed on Tuesday that Mr Levy received a £3million bonus last year for the completion of Tottenham's new stadium, which was added to his £4million-a-year salary.

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Mr Levy added that “the club’s operations have effectively ceased”, meaning their reserves being required to pay the “annual running cost of hundreds of millions” .

The club borrowed £637 million for the development of their stadium and they are also still paying former manager Mauricio Pochettino following his sacking earlier this season.

Mr Levy will take a 20 per cent pay cut amounting to around £700,000 over the next two months.