Obscene pay

In RECENT weeks, our press has been dominated by the administration process at Rangers FC. After much heart-searching, we are told that senior players have made huge sacrifices by accepting a wage cut of 75 per cent from £25,000 per week to £6,250 per week.

My simple arithmetic tells me in annual terms this represents a cut from £1.3 million to £325,000 per annum These salaries are for players in the Scottish premier League; if we consider the English Premier League, the figures are eye watering: reputedly in the order of £125,000 per week or £6.5 million per annum.

Most ordinary individuals would gladly accept £6,250 a month, never mind per week. Set against this, when we examine the “working day” of perhaps four or five hours (jogging round a football field) , the figures are even more staggering.

There is also much debate about the NHS currently. Dare I say that our top consultants are paid about £100,000 to £120,000 per annum – yes, about one-third of the wage of a Rangers player after the 75 per cent wage cut (or about one-tenth before the pay cut). It is time we realised that the fat cats in our society are these players who are being paid out of all proportion to the hours worked. These levels of remuneration are obscene and should be seen as such.

Douglas Johnston

Drumbrae Place

Edinburgh