Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil has come under fire for refusing to take a 12.5 per cent pay cut to help the Premier League side during the coronavirus pandemic. He reportedly wanted to see the “full financial impact” of the outbreak before making a decision.
Ozil, who is the club’s highest earner on 350,000 pounds a week, turned down the proposal after players and coaching staff at Arsenal agreed to take a salary cut for at least a year. Arsenal is the first team in the Premier League to announce such a measure.
Reports said that Ozil is one of three players who have refused to accept a pay cut.
Ozil's refusal has drawn criticism from several people including former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher and former Manchester United player Gary Neville.
“...the fact the highest-paid player hasn’t done it… the rest of the squad has agreed on it, you’ve got to go with the rest of the players. As you say, it’s a massive PR own goal,” Carragher said on Sky Sports News.
Neville called Ozil's actions indefensible.
British television presenter and author Piers Morgan also hit out at the German, saying that it was people like him who gave players a bad reputation.
The German midfielder’s agent Dr Erjut Sogut had earlier been quoted saying that professional footballers should not take a salary cut.
However, there are also reports that Ozil is willing to take a bigger pay cut than his teammates once Arsenal gives assurances on how the money will be used. The 31-year-old is known to donate to charities around the world, which is what has surprised many when Ozil refused to accept the salary cut.
Arsenal has said that it will repay the difference if the club qualify for the Champions League, with a 100,000 pounds bonus to the players, and partially reimbursed if they qualify for the Europa League. In case of no European participation in 2020-2021, players will be denied a refund.
