ATLÉTICO MADRID
Atlético Madrid announce pay cuts and temporary lay-offs
Atlético Madrid are the third club in Spain to enact such measures as the state of alarm doesn't allow players and professionals to work as normal.
Atlético Madrid have announced that they will be forced to enforce wages cuts and temporary ly-offs in order to survive as a club. It will affect all professionals who, given the state of alarm, can't work. That is to say it will affect players and works at the club. They are the third club in Spain after Barcelona and Espanyol to introduce such measures.
Gil Marín, the club's CEO, wrote a letter on behalf of the board of the club outlining why they had to implement it.
"My first hope is that you and your family have not been affected by this terrible pandemic," he started in the statement on the club's website.
He went on to thank with "sincere gratitude" the thousands of workers on the front-line of this pandemic including health workers, police, civil guards and other working tirelessly during the current crisis.
"Never in the recent history of our country have we faced a crisis of such magnitude," he said. The future is plagued with doubt because nobody can guarantee when it will end. The CEO says he has never experienced such a delicate situation during his time at the club.
"In a few days we have experienced the joy against Liverpool to home confinement," he continued. "We don't know when competitions will start again and under what conditions. We are working on every possible scenario."
Atlético Madrid announce pay cuts
Gil Marin went on to announce the cuts. "In a situation as grave as this, we have to make difficult decisions for the good of the club. I want to thank everyone for the work they do for the club during these difficult times. Unfortunately, and with the objective being the survival of the club, we have to put in place an ERTE (pay cuts and lay-offs) for the professionals who can't do their job because of the state of alarm at the club," he said.
"We are working to minimise the impact so that we can return to the way things were before," he said. "They are, as I said, difficult decisions but the responsibility and safeguarding of the future of Atlético Madrid oblige us to make them."
"I hope that we can return and I can go back to giving you better news," he said. "We continue fighting this situation like all of the Atléticos do... with courage and heart."