Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore was criticised on Wednesday for saying he saw no problem with clubs paying staff the minimum wage after the league sold its British TV rights for £5.1 billion.
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He also said the Premier League was a “success story” and not a charity following demands from politicians calling for more money from the sale of the rights to reduce ticket prices, invest in grassroots football and pay staff a living wage.
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A day after the TV deal was announced, Scudamore said: “We’re not set up for charitable purposes. We are set up to be the best football competition.
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“I believe the Premier League is a great UK export and it attracts a whole lot of positive feelings about the UK.
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“If you go and do any international survey, things like the Premier League, the BBC, the Queen: they are things that people feel are good about the UK.”
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Scudamore, who earns a bonus-related salary of almost £2 million a year told the BBC he was “not uncomfortable” with clubs paying top players huge salaries, with some on reported wages of £300 000 a week while some staff at clubs earn the legal minimum wage of £6.50 an hour.
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Scudamore said the “reality” was that the sport was “just like in any talent industry” where the “absolute talent gets paid a disproportionately high amount compared with other people that work in the business.”
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