Draft plans to limit injured SPL players to statutory sick pay

The Scottish Premier League have played down a controversial move to pay injured players statutory sick pay instead of full wages.

A draft SPL proposal suggests players, who are injured for more than 26 weeks in a two-year period should be paid around £60 (€86) a week.

The proposal has been greeted with disdain by players and their union, the Scottish Professional Footballers’ Association.

But SPL secretary Iain Blair insists the proposal is only part of a draft document discussed by the board of top-flight clubs and may not even see the light of day.

He said: “The document looks at the possibility of resorting to statutory sick pay, but I’ve no idea whether it will be in the final draft.”

But SPFA secretary Fraser Wishart has vowed to fight any moves designed to cut wages for long-term injured players.

He said: “To say the mood is one of extreme anger would be playing it down a bit. We’ve had three clubs in administration and contracts unilaterally terminated contrary to the football rules.

“You’ve had wage cuts at other clubs, all sorts of changes to wage structures and I think players are just fed up. We have to fight this.”