Portsmouth's bid to change the script at crucial EFL wage cap vote involving Sunderland, Ipswich and Peterborough

Pompey have been rebuffed in their efforts to put their proposals on the table at tomorrow’s key EFL vote.
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The Blues have forwarded a number of alternatives to the blanket wage cap which is set to be voted on by League One and League Two clubs.

One of their options included adding gate receipts to the £2.5m playing budget, for those clubs generating income above the ceiling from that revenue stream.

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Chief executive Mark Catlin argued that with those figures registered centrally with the EFL it would be fair and workable addition to what’s on the table.

He said: ‘We’ve put forward numerous proposals including just allowing net gate receipts as a barometer.

‘So owners can put in up to £2.5m which is the current proposal, but any club which generates more net gate receipts over and above that can use those.

‘Gate receipts are lodged with the EFL after every game and is something which can be monitored, so we believe clubs should be able to flex their budget to that level and take into account the size of the football club.’

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Despite offering up what Pompey viewed as reasonable voting options, Catlin told how the proposals were given short shrift by EFL bosses.

League One logo. Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)League One logo. Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
League One logo. Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

That means the vote remains a straightforward yes or no to a £2.5m playing budget ceiling in League One, and a £1.5m limit in League Two.

To see the wage cap implemented, a total of 16 of the 24 clubs in each division are required to vote in support of it.

In such an outcome the cap will then be immediately in play for the 2020-21 season, although there will be a transitional period where those players under contract are valued at the divisional average wage - which is £1,300 per week in League One.

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Catlin added: ‘Every proposal I put forward seems to be batted back firmly and we’re told this is not what the majority of clubs want.

‘So we are going to have a simple vote on do we want the salary cap or not as things currently stand.

‘For me, it all seems crazy.’

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