LONDON // Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, wants to see a salary cap introduced to world football in an effort to control the spiralling wages of the game's leading players.
The billionaire Russian businessman is alarmed by the wage inflation that saw Wayne Rooney increase his pay by 50 per cent last week after a public threat to exit Manchester United.
Though Abramovich contributed to the extraordinary escalation of footballer's remuneration by spending around £700 million (Dh4.1 billion) on buying Chelsea and equipping them with the Premier League's most expensive playing staff, he has sought to limit his funding of the club in recent years.
Abramovich is a strong supporter of Uefa's Financial Fair Play regulations which are designed to prevent European clubs from spending more than their revenue on player salaries and other costs.
In addition to Uefa's accounting controls - which will result in heavy loss-making clubs being excluded from European competition from the 2013/14 season - the Russian is in favour of a formal cap being placed on wage bills.
Bruce Buck, the Chelsea chairman, confirmed the club's support for a salary cap.
"We would seriously consider a wage cap. It has to be properly implemented," said Buck, who feels the cap should be at least Europe-wide to ensure that the game's top performers are not encouraged to leave the Premier League.
Chelsea unilaterally cut their wage bill last summer, shedding more than £25m in salaries by releasing or selling five senior internationals - Michael Ballack, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Joe Cole and Juliano Belletti. Those and other cost-cutting measures combined with significantly improved sponsorship and a kit supply deal with Adidas worth £20m a year until 2018 will bring the club closer to breaking even for the first time in the Abramovich era.
Chelsea declared a loss of £44.4m in their last set of accounts, covering the financial year to June 2009.
Consistent with Chelsea's new stance on salaries is the club's refusal to involve themselves in an auction for Rooney's services that developed over the past three months. Abramovich was alerted to the England forward's availability as he sought an unprecedented pay rise to £7m a year after tax, which is 40 per cent for Britain's highest earners. The club, however, would not countenance breaking their current wage structure which maintains Frank Lampard and John Terry as top earners on £150,000 a week.
Meanwhile, Chelsea are close to losing a second of their expensively acquired youth signings. Fabio Borini, the Italy Under 21 striker, has joined Gael Kakuta in refusing to extend a contract that expires at the end of this season. Like Kakuta - who has cost Chelsea well over £5m in wages and compensation following his illegal recruitment from RC Lens, the French side - Borini was promoted to the first-team squad this season, but is free to sign a pre-contract with foreign clubs in January. Italian sides AC Milan, Juventus and Sampdoria are interested in taking him for a Fifa-mandated fee of €270,000 (Dh1.37m).
sports@thenational.ae
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Results
2pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m; Winner: AF Al Baher, Bernardo Pinheiro (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).
2.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,600m; Winner: Talento Puma, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
3pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 1,950m; Winner: Tailor’s Row, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
3.30pm: Jebel Ali Stakes Listed (TB) Dh500,000 1,950m; Winner: Mark Of Approval, Patrick Cosgrave, Mahmood Hussain.
4pm: Conditions (TB) Dh125,000 1,400m; Winner: Dead-heat Raakez, Jim Crowley, Nicholas Bachalard/Attribution, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
4.30pm: Jebel Ali Sprint (TB) Dh500,000 1,000m; Winner: AlKaraama, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,200m; Winner: Wafy, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
5.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 1,400m; Winner: Cachao, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
HOW TO WATCH
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
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Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
match info
Union Berlin 0
Bayern Munich 1 (Lewandowski 40' pen, Pavard 80')
Man of the Match: Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich)
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Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
FA Cup quarter-final draw
The matches will be played across the weekend of 21 and 22 March
Sheffield United v Arsenal
Newcastle v Manchester City
Norwich v Derby/Manchester United
Leicester City v Chelsea
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
THE BIO:
Sabri Razouk, 74
Athlete and fitness trainer
Married, father of six
Favourite exercise: Bench press
Must-eat weekly meal: Steak with beans, carrots, broccoli, crust and corn
Power drink: A glass of yoghurt
Role model: Any good man
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani