Amid the deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus, which has postponed or canceled all the major sporting events including the European football leagues, La Liga giants FC Barcelona are mulling temporary salary reduction of some first-team players.
According to a report on IANS via ESPN, Barcelona CEO Oscar Grau is in talks with La Liga and other clubs around Europe so that they take concerted measures to address the impact of the coronavirus.
“It is vital for Barcelona’s financial stability. Other clubs have already done their job but Barca must keep fighting for the La Liga title and for continuing to advance in the Champions League,” sources from Barcelona were quoted as saying in the report.
The Blaugranas are the first team in the history of the sport to hand all the first-team players an average salary of more than 11 million euros a year.
However, there is unlikely to be any layoff as the club is trying to manage deficiency by cutting wages of some of the high-paid players.
The business in almost every major professional club in Europe has come to a standstill after UEFA and the local governing bodies decided to postpone the leagues and the competitions until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UEFA last week had postponed all the Champions League and Europa League matches, while the top five leagues of Europe – English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 – have also been shut down.
With Europe becoming the new epicenter of the deadly COVID-19, which has killed more than 5,000 people in Europe, the football leagues are unlikely to return any time soon.
(With IANS inputs)