Coronavirus: Gareth Southgate agrees 30% pay cut but players yet to follow

England football manager Gareth Southgate has agreed to a 30% pay cut as players fail to reach an agreement on doing the same.

The news, which is expected to be confirmed next week, follows criticism of highly-paid footballers keeping their salaries while others in the industry faced being dismissed or having their jobs furloughed under a government bail-out scheme.

A Football Association spokesman told Sky Sports News: "The financial implications of the coronavirus are not yet known however, as a not-for-profit organisation, we want to ensure that we take the appropriate course of action to support the wider organisation and our employees.

"We will make a further announcement on our next steps in due course."

On Saturday, Liverpool became the latest Premier League club to put its non-playing staff on furlough, joining Tottenham, Norwich, Newcastle and Bournemouth.

Liverpool made a pre-tax profit of £42m last year and it said "complex" talks continue with players about savings on salaries. However, if the season is not completed, the league could end up owing broadcasters hundreds of millions of pounds.

Even Health Secretary Matt Hancock had said Premier League players should "take a pay cut and play their part".

When the league's 20 clubs met on Friday they all agreed to consult players on a "combination of conditional reductions and deferrals amounting to 30% of total annual remuneration".

But on Saturday, the English Premier League players failed to reach an agreement with their clubs.

The Professional Footballers' Association had claimed that such a cut could see the government lose out on more than £200m in tax, adding that this would be "detrimental to our NHS and other government-funded services".

The government said it was "concerned" by the stand-off between players and clubs, with Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden saying: "Football must play its part to show that the sport understands the pressures its lower paid staff, communities and fans face."

Eddie Jones, who coaches England's rugby team, last week agreed to a pay cut of more than 25%, as did the Rugby Football Union's executive team.