“If the government approached me to help support nurses financially or buy ventilators I’d be proud to do so, as long as I knew where the money was going,” wrote Rooney. “I’m in a position where I could give something up. Not every footballer is in the same position.
“Yet suddenly the whole profession has been put on the spot with a demand for 30% pay cuts across the board,” the former England captain added. “Why are footballers suddenly the scapegoats? How the past few days have played out is a disgrace.
“He [Hancock] was supposed to be giving the nation the latest on the biggest crisis we’ve faced in our lifetimes. Why was the pay of footballers even in his head? Was he desperate to divert attention from his government’s handling of this pandemic?”
“It seemed strange to me because every other decision in this process has been kept behind closed doors but this had to be announced publicly,” he wrote. “It feels as if it’s to shame the players to force them into a corner where they have to pick up the bill for lost revenue. In my opinion it is now a no-win situation. Whatever way you look at it, we’re easy targets.”
