'Premier League needs wage cap'- Quinn
SUNDERLAND chairman Niall Quinn has called on the Premier League to put its house in order – and impose a salary cap to prevent a financial meltdown like Portsmouth ever happening again.
Stricken Pompey have passed through the hands of four owners in just over a year, and plunged into administration in last month after finding themselves unable to pay a 15m tax bill.
At one stage they were in danger of going out of business entirely, while even administration comes with a nine-point penalty which, when it is ratified by the Premier League, is set to ensure Portsmouth's relegation.
Sunderland chairman Quinn says the problems of the south coast club have been caused almost entirely by their wage bill, which hit 52m last year.
Now Quinn is calling on all Premier League clubs to look at putting a cap on the ratio of salaries to turnover, so that history doesn't repeat itself.
"What has happened at Portsmouth is a serious wake-up call," he said.
"They are not in trouble because of the transfer fees they paid, or because their crowds haven't been big enough, or because they didn't get enough TV money. They are in trouble because of players' wages.
"I think it's time for the Premier League – perhaps the chairman Sir Dave Richards – to think about how the clubs stop firing the money out to the players and the agents as fast as the chief executive Richard Scudamore can bring it in.
"The 20 clubs in the Premier League should make sure that what has happened to Portsmouth can never happen again.
"What we should do is agree on a salary cap – that wages should not exceed a certain percentage of our turnover – and anyone who breaks that should be docked points.
"It would take a while to bring in, because most players are under contract for the next two or three years anyway, but it would be a good move."
The very nature of the Premier League, in which each of the 20 member clubs is an equal shareholder and all are competing with each other, will make it hard to secure agreement on such a scheme, but Quinn says the clubs have to take a responsible attitude.
"It's very hard to get support for these kind of measures because the 20 clubs are all in competition with each other," he said.
"Anyone who thinks they can get that bit of an advantage by paying slightly higher wages than another club trying to sign a player, wants to hold onto that advantage. But I think we should have our hands tied."
Sunderland's total wage bill, which includes off-field staff as well as players, is currently around the 50m mark, which is 78 per cent of turnover.
Quinn also revealed that Sunderland made a 26m loss over the 12 months from July 2008-July 2009.
But he insists that the club is in a strong position going forward thanks to the backing of new owner Ellis Short, who took control of the club 10 months ago.
Short pumped 48m into the club in the period covered by the latest accounts and has put a further 29m in since last July, both to pay for new signings and to reduce the club's bank debts.
Short has capitalised that debt, which means in effect he has given it to the club and it is not a loan which he can ask to be repaid in the future.
Chief executive Steve Walton said: "The percentage we pay on wages looks high at the moment but one of the reasons for that is that we are currently in the process of trying to grow the club and that involves significant investment.
"In our case though the investment is not going to put us in an untenable position and what needs to be avoided is clubs putting themselves in a vulerable position by paying out wages that are not realistic to their business."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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