Mehmet Dalman: Football doing 'bare minimum' during coronavirus
- Published
Chairman Mehmet Dalman says Cardiff's spending plans may be curtailed due to the coronavirus crisis
Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman is disappointed in football's "bare minimum" reaction to the Covid-19 crisis.
He has warned Championship clubs in particular face financial "distress" caused by the lockdown.
Dalman admits Cardiff will be among the clubs having to curtail spending plans this summer.
"I think the impact will be quite considerable if things remain equal," Dalman told BBC Sport Wales.
Cardiff confirmed on Friday players had agreed a partial-salary deferral with first-team players of up to three months, saying it would help "maintain financial stability" during the "unprecedented time of global economic concern".
Manager Neil Harris and chief executive Ken Choo had already taken voluntary wage cuts.
But Dalman insists more should have been done by football in general, also calling for greater help from the Premier League to clubs lower in the system.
"I think it has been very disappointing, to say the least, the way football has reacted to this crisis," he said.
"I feel it is a matter of some disappointment very little progress has been made by all the bodies across the board.
"There are two aspects to this: first of all there is the NHS and the people in the front line who are genuinely putting their lives on the line.
"My daughter is a doctor, my niece is a doctor and every day that is what they do. So I can see every day what they get up to and they really are risking their lives.
"Some of these nurses they earn tuppence compared to what the football world is paying players in general.... I welcome the Premier League's announcement to do something. But it really is not enough. It's far too little.
"The second and more fundamental question is the clubs that are paying the wages of these players are in financial trouble. In any other firm a factory worker not working for four or six weeks is not continuing to be paid at full wages.
"So unless you are cutting wages it is not going to have a significant effect on the state of the financial strength or health of itself.
"We have heard a lot of high-profile people saying give football a chance to show itself. We have given football a chance to show itself and I have not seen a great deal so far."
'Quite a lot of pain'
Dalman reiterated his previous suggestion of wage cuts, saying: "We as a body should have stepped up to the plate. The Government has made the position very clear that football has to do play its part.
We don't have a czar of football, we don't have a dictatorial approach to football nor should we, I am not supporting that for a second.
"But... we didn't do the right thing in my opinion. We haven't done anything yet.
"Deferrals are not going to help the NHS, deferrals are not going to help the club. That is just simple facts because sooner or later all the books will be squared."
Dalman did not blame the players saying: "I don't want to say players in particular because I think that would be unfair. I think players are looking for leadership, are looking for direction and I don't feel they have got it."
The Cardiff chairman believes the Premier League should be passing down financial aid to the Championship, whose clubs face hardship.
"Cardiff City financially is going to take quite a lot of pain. We do have a wealthy owner (Vincent Tan) whose business isn't doing great because it is leisure and retail back in the Far East," Dalman said.
"So there has to be a knock-on effect, it will have to change our attitude what our spending power will be like in the next season. These are just realities of finance.
"I don't think he (Neil Harris) should worry about spending, he should worry about what he is going to have to raise because we will not have the financial ability to go out there and buy four or five new players.
"That's not just Cardiff that is across the board. Other teams are no different to us, they are facing the same challenge as we do.
"I think the impact will be quite considerable if things remain equal... I would not want to lose any clubs.
"I don't think Cardiff will be distressed. I think financially we will be viable. Maybe our ambitions will be curtailed but we will be fine.
"But I do feel for my colleagues in the league that the pain will be quite difficult."