Taylor defends players' salaries

Players' chief Gordon Taylor has defended top football stars' pay after Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said John Terry's salary was "obscene".

Sutcliffe said "people in the street cannot understand" salaries like that of the Chelsea captain.

But Taylor insists that Sutcliffe should back the country's leading sports stars.

"I find it an incredible statement coming from a sports minister," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"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 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."

Taylor added: "Is he going to have a go at Lewis Hamilton's money, Jonny Wilkinson's money?

"He should be supporting sports people, who have that incentive for youngsters who take up sport, to reach that level.

"Every labourer is worth his hire and Mr Abramovich (Chelsea owner) thinks he's worth it. More than half of that money goes to the Government in tax.

"There's so much money coming into the game, surely it's only fair that they get their share of that?"

Source: BBC Sport