Scrambling politicians, cut-throat club execs and an unobliging union have left Premier League players facing familiar ire
A political football is normally the cliche of choice when something that has nothing to do with football is booted back and forth between agencies attempting to deflect blame. These are far from normal times, however, and in the past week football became political even though its practitioners are now self-isolating and invisible. Season suspended or not, Premier League players rounded on by a health secretary struggling to equip his own nurses know exactly how it feels to get a public kicking.
There are, of course, wealthier institutions around the country than football clubs, and many millionaires and corporations that pay less tax. But even when out of sight, the recipients of the stratospheric salaries common in the Premier League – and to a lesser but still significant extent in the EFL – are clearly too obvious a target to be ignored when the rest of the population is being asked to make sacrifices.
There is plenty of evidence that footballers were trying to help before Hancock said they needed to play their part
Related: Premier League players tarnished by taking too long to act on pay | Dean Ashton
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