Put limit on soccer salaries — Iddon

3:24pm Wednesday 31st May 2006

FOOTBALLERS' salaries should be capped because they are dwarfing the wages of the Prime Minister, a local MP has told Tony Blair.

Dr Brian Iddon, Labour MP for Bolton South-east, has backed a bid by the European Union to set a maximum wage for stars such as Wayne Rooney and David Beckham, when he raised the subject at Prime Minister's Question Time.

Dr Iddon believes the astronomical wages of some soccer stars are not only pricing families out of watching the game but are distorting the salaries of the leaders of industry, while the pay of the country's leader lags behind.

He was speaking after new Chelsea signing Michael Ballack agreed a deal worth £130,000-a-week to move to Stamford Bridge, and Thierry Henry agreed a £112,000-a-week package to stay at Arsenal.

Speaking in the Commons, Dr Iddon asked: "Is Mr Blair aware of the EU report into salary caps on footballers wages?"

"Does Mr Blair agree that the salaries of some others those who run railway companies, chief executives of housing associations, and even university vice-chancellors are out of control, especially by comparison with the pay awards being received by those who work for them? Surely nobody should earn more than the person who runs the country."

Afterwards, he said: "There should be a minimum wage and a maximum wage. The trouble with inflated wages for footballers is that they pull up other salaries. It becomes an issue of who is paid the best and which companies can pay the best.

"I would like to see a cap on footballers' wages and wages in other areas of industry where salaries are soaring. An adjudication committee assesses our salaries as MPs and a similar process could be put in place to determine maximum salaries."

Responding to Dr Iddon, Mr Blair said: "There are always issues about how many people we should have on what salaries, but my own view of this, including in relation to football, is that it is very difficult to find a system that properly controls such things, especially in what is pretty much a global commercial market."

A report commissioned by the European Union has called on the European football governing body, UEFA, to introduce salary caps and a limit on foreign players.