Sunderland's League One rivals Portsmouth slam salary cap plans as an 'absolute disgrace'

Pompey CEO Mark Catlin has spoken out against the plans by the EFL, which are yet to be approved, to bring in a £2.5m per year wage restriction with his club’s existing player wage bill around £4m.

Portsmouth and Sunderland – whose wage bill at the start of last season stood at £10m – have voiced their concerns over a flat wage cap but there is strong support for it elsewhere in League One.

Catlin told the Portsmouth News: “Should salary caps come in, those clubs with a 40,000 average attendance and generating huge commercial revenues will be only allowed to spend the same as clubs with a 2,000 attendance and no commercial income. How can that be right?

“It is an absolute disgrace. I have been fighting this behind the scenes and will be fighting it even more strongly over the coming weeks and months.

“Outline proposals have been sent out, although there has not been a formal document. There are a few clubs, including ourselves, that are totally against restricting salaries.

“It’s a crazy proposal which is supposed to be about sustainability, yet Pompey are going to be unable to spend what we can afford.

"However, this still encourages almost three quarters of the league to use their owners to put money in to get to our wage structure. Basically, it caps the top clubs that can afford it.

"I have been arguing for a cap linked to turnover, a cap linked to operational profit, a cap linked to anything which allows the larger clubs to operate properly. It makes no sense to me."

At the start of last season, former executive director Charlie Methven confirmed Sunderland’s 2019-20 wage bill was £10m, though that figure didn't include the additional £2.5m of payments that were being paid to some of the high earners who had left the club as part of deals struck in order to help the club financially in the short-term.

Sunderland will support the introduction of cost controls in the EFL but they have already voiced their concerns over any uniform cap on playing budgets, CEO Jim Rodwell has also insisted that any change to the regulations must also include a transitional period that would give clubs the necessary time to adapt and prepare.

Speaking in May, Rodwell told the Echo: “Sunderland absolutely agree that clubs should become more sustainable, but that doesn't mean a hard and fast wage cap.

“Sustainability is not about creating a level-playing field, it's about living within your means.

“If that means one club is larger than another, so be it. That's what sustainability means."

Sunderland boss Phil Parkinson, meanwhile, has also already made it clear he is ‘not keen’ on the salary cap proposals.