Arsenal, Premier League sides to donate food from cancelled matches, won’t pay casual workers for missed matchday

Arsenal plan to donate to local charities any food that was to be used for catering and concessions for the now-postponed Everton match on Sunday that cannot be frozen until the PSV match on Thursday. The Gunners join Liverpool, Leeds, Crystal Palace, and Manchester City in giving away food to food banks to avoid waste and spoilage.

According to The Guardian, however, Leicester, Leeds, Southampton, Liverpool and Arsenal said they would not pay their casual, matchday staff for the postponed matches, noting that they would be paid when the games are actually played. Manchester City have said they will pay all 1000+ of their casual staff. Fulham will pay the casual staff they employ directly. The Guardian did not receive responses from the other clubs contacted.

It’s disappointing that Arsenal (and the other clubs) aren’t looking out for and taking care of the people who help make home matchdays possible. There is a growing cost of living crisis in Britain. With the cost of energy skyrocketing, more people are concerned about making ends meet. Chief among them the people who have to work multiple jobs, i.e. the casual matchday workers for Premier League clubs.

All of those casual workers were counting on that matchday paycheck, which now may not come for months. Some of them may now have to prioritize which bills get paid this month and which don’t. That’s unacceptable.

Arsenal, the Premier League, the U.K. government, whoever have the means to help these people they are putting in a tough spot with the decision to postpone matches this weekend. Whoever you want to say is ultimately responsible can absolutely afford to foot the bill for one, maybe two, matches. They need to do better.