MADRID (Spain): La Liga club Atletico Madrid has also decided to slash their salary by 70 per cent following the coronavirus pandemic that has hit most European leagues including the 2020 Olympic Games.
On Thursday, Atlecio players joined their Barcelona counterparts in agreeing to a 70 per cent pay cut.
In a statement, Atletico said that the reduction regards the “coaches and players of the men’s first team, women’s first team and Atletico Madrid B” for the duration of the crisis in Spain, which has been hit particularly hard by the spread of COVID-19.
The club had already announced last week that they had asked labour authorities to slash player pay through a partial unemployment scheme.
Atletico added that an agreement with the first team will enable the club to supplement the salaries of the 430 staff put on partial unemployment.
“The first team will contribute half of the necessary amount and the members of the club’s Management Committee, made up of the CEO and the directors of the different areas, the other half,” the statement said.
All the members of the first team have signed an internal agreement with the club that defines two different scenarios depending on the development of the current 2019-20 season, the club said on their website.
The file will involve a 70 per cent reduction in the salaries of coaches and players of the men’s first team, women’s first team and Atlético de Madrid B for the duration of the state of alarm.
On Monday, Lionel Messi announced that his Barca teammates had agreed to the same pay cut, and that they would also supplement the salaries of the club’s employees.
On Thursday, Spain announced that the coronavirus death toll had topped 10,000 people, the world’s second highest total after Italy.
