Apologizing to its own fans, Liverpool on Monday reversed a decision to apply its furloughed non-playing staff for the British government’s job retention scheme during the coronavirus pandemic.
Under the scheme implemented to help businesses survive the national lockdown, staff can be put on furlough and receive 80% of their salaries from the government, up to a maximum of 2,500 pounds ($3,000) a month.
Liverpool’s about-turn came after two days of fans and former players of the European champion expressing unhappiness with its furloughing plans.
“We believe we came to the wrong conclusion last week to announce that we intended to apply to the coronavirus retention scheme and furlough staff due to the suspension of the Premier League football calendar,” Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore said in a message to fans, “and are truly sorry for that.