Coronavirus: Serie A clubs unanimously in favour of up to one-third pay cut for players
With the coronavirus pandemic leaving clubs in financial difficulty, Serie A clubs have voted in favour of temporarily cutting player wages.
Serie A clubs are unanimously in favour of cutting player wages by up to a third in an attempt to ease the financial strain caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
No football until Covid-19 pandemic over
Italy's top flight was suspended indefinitely last month due to the spread of the virus, and authorities have insisted they will not even consider resuming action until it is safe to do so.
Only the United States and Spain have been impacted more heavily by COVID-19 than Italy, which has confirmed 128,000 cases and almost 16,000 deaths – a worldwide high.
With the suspension preventing clubs from taking in gate receipts and other streams of revenue, they are being impacted financially.
League-wide pay cuts for players and coaching staff had been mooted, particularly since Juventus implemented their own such measures last week, and Serie A has now confirmed all clubs have agreed to act.
All clubs facing up to coronavirus
A statement read: "The situation needs the entire system to be responsible, with the clubs ready to play their part while facing huge losses in order to guarantee Italian football's future.
"These losses will have to be minimal because a reduction of costs will be implemented, when most of the costs are represented by salaries.
"Coherently with all the actions undertaken at national and international level, Lega Serie A has decided unanimously, excluding Juventus - who have already agreed such salary cut with their own players - a common line to reduce the impact of wages of players and managers of the first-team squads.
"This reduction, necessary to save the future of football, will be of one-third lump sum (as much as four months' salary) if football doesn't start over again or of one-sixth (as much as two months' salary) if we can finish the 2019-20 season. It goes without saying that it will be the clubs discussing the terms with their employees.
"Lega Serie A is monitoring the situation along with FIGC [Italian Football Federation], UEFA and ECA [European Clubs Association]. The will to finish the season has been communicated, but only without any risks as of when sanitary conditions and governments decree will allow it.
"Today's assembly has analysed the recommendations of the Italian Sporting Medical Federation on the training session restart at the present time. Within the end of this week the FIGC will issue the norms about it."