Real Madrid players agree to 10-20 percent wage cut

Madrid

Real Madrid’s playing and coaching staff have voluntarily agreed to take a wage cut of between 10 and 20 per cent this year to help the club deal with the stoppage caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the La Liga side said in a statement on Wednesday.

The club said the exact amount would “depend on the circumstances that may affect the closing of the current 2019/20 sports season.” Club directors have also agreed to a wage cut as have members of its basketball team, it said, Reuters reported.

The club said the move followed negotiations between the team captains — Sergio Ramos for the senior soccer side — and club directors. It said the decision would save having to cut the wages of other employees.

Spain has been badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak with a death toll of 14,555. La Liga, as with most football around the world, is currently suspended and it is not known when, or even if, the season will re-start.

“This decision, taken by players, coaches and employees, avoids traumatic measures that affect the rest of the workers,” said the statement.

It said it would also help deal with “the reduction in income that the club is suffering these months as a result of the suspension of competitions and the paralysis of a large part of its commercial activities.”

The players at Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have also taken pay cuts and La Liga has asked other clubs to follow suit.

The Spanish sports daily Marca said that a 10 per cent cut would save the club around 50 million euros.