The government has been urged to impose a 'windfall tax' on Premier League clubs like Tottenham who furlough non-playing staff without slashing the salaries of their leading stars.

MP Julian Knight, chair of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport select committee, has written to the Chancellor demanding that Premier League clubs "do the right thing...or face the consequences".

Spurs on Tuesday announced that all 55 non-playing staff would take a 20 percent pay-cut for at least April and May, and placed a number of employees on the government's furlough scheme.

The decision has provoked an angry backlash, with a number of figures from the world of politics and sport criticising the north London club, who posted profits of £87million before tax in 2019.

Newcastle United and Norwich City are the other top-flight clubs to have utilised the scheme, with allows employees to claim 80 percent of furloughed workers wages from the Treasury, up to £2,500-a-month.

Knight, the MP for Solihull, urged the Chancellor to bring in sanctions against any Premier League club that continues to pursue what is described as a ‘two-tier system’ after Tuesday, April 7.

A windfall tax would allow the Treasury to recover a substantial proportion of the money paid out by Premier League clubs to players which could be used to reimburse non-playing staff.

“We are facing an obscene situation where top players who aren’t working are continuing to see hundreds of thousands of pounds roll in each week while the staff who keep the clubs going are losing wages," Knight said.

“If the Premier League isn’t going to act to resolve this crisis then the Government must step in by imposing a significant financial penalty on clubs to reimburse those hit hardest in the pocket.

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“That’s why I have written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak today demanding that Premier League clubs do the right thing by Tuesday next week or face the consequences."

The Premier League, EFL, PFA and LMA remain locked in talks over wage cuts, having failed to reach an agreement over video link on Wednesday.

The discussions are expected to continued into Friday, with the Premier League eager to find an unanimous agreement for all 20 members clubs.