Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur have come under fire from MP Julian Knight after their decision to furlough their workforce this week.
United's off-field operations team were told on Monday via an email from managing director Lee Charnley, and phonecalls from line managers, that the majority of their salary would come from the government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which gives workers 80% of their wages back up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.
The majority of departments were affected at United including the Academy, scouting team, media team and the club's charity Foundation, although the Foundation chief Steve Beharall updating his Twitter feed on Tuesday to state that 2,000 children in Byker, Walker and Walkergate had enjoyed meals delivered by the club.
MP Knight slammed clubs for taking such drastic measures and said: "It sticks in the throat that clubs are continuing to pay their stars hundreds of thousands a week while furloughing staff on a few hundred pounds a week.
"(It) exposes the crazy economics in English football and the moral vacuum at its centre."
Newcastle are yet to comment publicly on the situation but are holding a review on the situation later this month.
Spurs chief Daniel Levy said: "We hope the current discussions between the Premier League, PFA and LMA will result in players and coaches doing their bit for the football ecosystem.
"I have no doubt we will get through this crisis but life will take some time to get back to normal."
Levy then attempted to justify the move and said: "The crushing devastation on industries in many countries, the interdependence of international trade and travel in every aspect of our daily life is only now beginning to be felt.
"Every person on this planet will be affected and in my lifetime I cannot think of something so impactful. With over 786,000 infected, nearly 38,000 deaths and large segments of the world in lockdown, we need to realise that football cannot operate in a bubble.
"We may be the eighth largest club in the world by revenue, according to the Deloitte survey, but all that historical data is totally irrelevant as this virus has no boundaries."
Whether Premier League clubs follow the big hitters of Europe remains to be seen.
But Juventus players and coaching staff have agreed to freeze their wage packets, Barcelona have agreed a 70% pay cut and not for the first time German clubs Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have led the way by agreeing on wage cuts in the Bundesliga.
Meanwhile, Celtic boss Neil Lennon has admitted similar action in the UK could follow.
He said: "Yes.
"We'll probably have a look at things at the end of April in terms of the club as a whole.
"We still haven't finished the season.
"We don't know whether that's going to happen or not.
"We need to get a decision sooner rather than later on that.
"There has to be a backstop date at some stage so we can plan ahead."
