adminPARIS. — Clubs in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 are to go on strike for one weekend next month in protest at the French government’s ‘‘super tax’.’
The nation’s Professional Clubs’ Union announced yesterday there would be no matches staged on the weekend of November 29-December 2.
‘‘There will be a weekend without games,’’ said UCPF president Jean-Pierre Louvel.
Under the proposal, companies, rather than individuals, will be liable to pay the 75 percent tax rate for the part of employees’ annual salaries that exceed one million euros.
The issue is to be discussed in parliament, but the fear among clubs is that it will dissuade players from playing their football in France and they will instead seek employment elsewhere.
‘‘I agree with the determination of the French clubs,’’ added Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) president Frederic Thiriez in remarks reported by L’Equipe.
The clubs had initially hoped they would be exempt, but sports minister Valerie Fourneyron confirmed last month that that would not be the case.
Under the proposal, companies, rather than individuals, will be liable to pay the 75 per cent tax rate for the part of employees’ annual salaries that exceed one million euros.
The issue is to be discussed in parliament, but the fear among clubs is that it will dissuade players from playing their football in France and they will instead seek employment elsewhere. ‘‘I agree with the determination of the French clubs,’’ added Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) president Frederic Thiriez in remarks reported by L’Equipe.
The clubs had initially hoped they would be exempt, but sports minister Valerie Fourneyron confirmed last month that that would not be the case.
A statement on the official LFP website added: ‘‘This day ‘football in danger, all together!’ is unprecedented in the history of French football, as a first initiative from football to protest against the introduction of exceptional tax on high salaries paid by employees under the draft budget law for 2014.” — Mailonline.
Online Reporter