Liverpool apologise and reverse decision to furlough non-playing staff

Liverpool have decided to reverse the decision to place some non-playing staff on the Government’s furlough scheme as chief executive Peter Moore admitted they came to the “wrong conclusion”.

The Premier League club, who in February announced pre-tax profits of £42million for 2018-19, were heavily criticised after they announced their intention to turn to the scheme during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a letter to the club’s fans, Moore said: “We believe we came to the wrong conclusion last week to announce that we intended to apply to the coronavirus retention scheme and furlough staff due to the suspension of the Premier League football calendar, and are truly sorry for that.”

Moore added: “Our intentions were, and still are, to ensure the entire workforce is given as much protection as possible from redundancy and/or loss of earnings during this unprecedented period.

“We are therefore committed to finding alternative ways to operate while there are no football matches being played that ensures we are not applying for the government relief scheme.”