Row over 'obscene' player salaries

LONDON, England -- A claim by British sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe that the wages of top football stars were "obscene" has drawn condemnation from Premier League giants Manchester United and Chelsea and the chief of the players' union.

England and Chelsea captain John Terry was the main target in Sutcliffe's address to a sports conference in London.

"Good luck to John Terry but I think it is obscene to be on 150,000 pounds ($312,547) a week.

"I understand that a footballer's career is limited in time but people in the street cannot understand salaries like that.

"Chelsea are 250 million ($520.9 million) in the red and they may be able to cope with that but it's not the real world 250 million in the red is not sustainable."

Sutcliffe, who said he is a Manchester United fan, also condemned the Premier League champions for a recent 13 percent hike in the prices of season tickets.

He added: "Ordinary working people who want go and see Manchester United face being priced out.

"There is a danger that there will be a move away from the game and we don't want to be in a position where people are alienated."

United manager Alex Ferguson said on Friday that he did agree with Sutcliffe's remarks about their ticket prices.

"It is unfair and inaccurate," said the Scot.

"If you want to talk about obscene, he should look at the prices they charge at Chelsea and Arsenal.

"He works in London, I am sure he knows where Chelsea and Arsenal play, so he must know about their ticket prices. They are almost double ours, so I do not understand why he is picking on Manchester United."

Chelsea also responded swiftly by claiming that the figures quoted by Sutcliffe were inaccurate and have made a complaint to his department.

Players' chiief Gordon Taylor also waded in by saying that Sutcliffe should give Britain's top sports stars more backing.

"I find it an incredible statement coming from a sports minister," he told BBC Radio Four's Today program on Friday.

"We're talking about paying millions to have an Olympics or World Cup here in England, but if we're not careful we're not even going to have the sportsmen and women to do ourselves justice.

"He should be pleased that we've got a lad here (John Terry) who's managed to break through in a world when there's a massive amount of foreign players, and he's proved himself one of the very best in the world."be 100% correct but he stands by his wider point."

A spokesman for Sutcliffe later said: "The minister accepts that the figures may not be 100 percent correct but he stands by his wider point." E-mail to a friend