The owners of Premier League clubs need to show more leadership during the coronavirus crisis, says former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville, who accused those at the head of the English game of "hiding".
English football has come under fire for its reaction to the pandemic, which has caused the indefinite postponement of all competitions in this country and across the majority of Europe.
Five Premier League clubs used the government furlough scheme to put non-playing members of staff on temporary leave with the taxpayer picking up the majority of the wage bill; this move proved so unpopular that three of the teams - Liverpool, Tottenham and Bournemouth - reversed their decisions, although Newcastle and Norwich continue to use it.
No deal has been reached on pay deferments or cuts for players across the Premier League either, with the footballers themselves coming up with the #PlayersTogether initiative to support the NHS after being controversially attacked by health secretary Matt Hancock for not donating part of their wages to the fight against Covid-19.
This lack of leadership at the top has frustrated Neville, who feels there has been a lack of open communication from those in English football in comparison to other industries, and that even if discussions on the best course of action have not yet reached a solution, the fans still deserved to be kept in the loop as to how talks are progressing.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville said: "Where are the club owners, where are the club CEOs, why are they not communicating to everybody in this country what is happening. There is an absolute abyss of information, we are just speculating all the time.
"You see the government, whether it's good or bad, communicating every single day, you see other businesses and industries communicating every single day, football has gone quiet - they're hiding.
"It would be nice to hear from them, about the challenges they're facing, what discussions are taking place. What they did a few weeks ago with the players, they dragged the players into taking a 30 per cent pay cut for 12 months but they forgot to mention it to the players first.
"They lost the players on day one, they need them back on board in the next few weeks and there needs to be some sort of reduction or deferment of salaries, but in times of crisis, even when you don't know what the outcome is going to be, you have to communicate, you cannot just go quiet."