The Coronavirus outbreak has shown us the best of people and the worst. Premier League football clubs are in the second camp, in my opinion.

How can it be morally acceptable to fall back on government bailout funds - which ultimately comes back to the taxpayer - to pay backroom staff wages when scaling back on players’ pay will more than cover these payments? The average premier league footballer’s weekly pay is £65000 - cutting one player’s salary for one week will potentially pay  85 backroom staff for a week: this increases exponentially when you look at the weekly wages of top-flight players. If Kevin De Bruyne forewent his £350k weekly salary for one month that would pay around 465 backroom staff for a month. The numbers are staggering.

Look at all the sacrifices ordinary people are making for the sake of their communities, for total strangers, for the nation. Why can’t footballers, who are revered by so many, do the same? There is an ethical vacuum here and if they don’t voluntarily do it, let’s compel them to.

Please sign this petition. Let’s stand up for what we believe is right. Let’s make a statement about the values at the core of our country.