Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes players will be hardest hit if they go on strike in support of their union chief Gordon Taylor's fight for a bigger share of the Premier League's massive income from television.
Ballot papers for votes on industrial action are expected to go out to the Professional Footballers Association's entire membership after an emergency meeting of the management committee tomorrow.
Taylor believes a mass walk-out is a foregone conclusion within a month unless the Premier League revise what they have told him is their final offer to the union.
Taylor claims the PFA have been offered just one per cent of the £165 million which league officials have negotiated with TV bosses - compared to five per cent of the previous deal which accrued around £9 million for the union.
But Wenger fears a backlash from the paying public in the event of an unprecedented strike. He can see fans turning on players whom many already regard as overpaid.
Wenger said: "I think it would be amazing to a lot of people to see a world like the football world go on strike for more money.
"Football is a world of wealth, and we are in a privileged profession. If there was a strike for more money I think people would have big problems understanding it."
Wenger has spoken to England defender Martin Keown, Arsenal's PFA representative and said: "From the chat we had over this it seems clear to me that the Premiership players are not complaining at all over this issue.
"I think, reasonably, they would not go on strike. It would be very bad for the game because supporters know how much money is spent in the game and how much there is to spend."
Taylor insists the dispute is not about making the rich richer but ensuring the PFA are provided with adequate funds to look after lower-paid players, others who have been put out of the game by injury and to maintain their subsidy of football academies and re-education schemes. - PA