Teams in the Italian top flight have agreed to sacrifice a slice of their salary in order to ease the financial burden during the Covid-19 outbreak
Serie A clubs have unanimously agreed to cut the salaries of first-team players by up to a third during the coronavirus pandemic, which has struck particularly hard in Italy.
League clubs held an emergency conference call on Monday after a meeting of the Italian players’ union (AIC) failed to reach a concrete agreement on wage cuts.
The deal will see players for 19 of the 20 Serie A clubs give up a sixth of their wages should football resume and the 2019-20 campaign be completed. If the season is cancelled altogether, wages will be cut by one-third.
The only team not to agree to the deal are champions Juventus, who have already agreed a wage cut deal with their players. Two weeks ago it was announced they had negotiated salary reductions with their senior squad that could save the club €90 million (£81m/$101m) during the coronavirus crisis.
A Serie A statement read: “In line with actions aimed at decreasing labour costs both in Italy and abroad, Serie A today decided unanimously, with the exception of Juventus who have already reached an agreement with their players, a common line of address to contain the amount represented by the salaries of players, coaches and other first-team staff.
“This intervention, necessary to safeguard the future of the entire Italian football system, provides for a reduction of one-third in total gross annual earnings (or four average all-inclusive monthly payments) if the season cannot be resumed and a reduction of one-sixth in total gross annual earnings (or two average all-inclusive monthly payments) if the remaining matches of the 2019-20 season can be played in the coming months.
“It is understood that the clubs will define the agreements with their members of staff directly.”
Serie A have also indicated their intention to complete the season, with Uefa having warned of possible sanctions should a league fail to be played to its conclusion.
Serie A said: “The desire is to end the season and return to play without taking risks, only when health conditions and government decisions allow it.”
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