Lionel Messi confirms Barcelona players will take 70% wage cut and contribute to club employees' salary amid COVID-19 pandemic
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi on Monday confirmed that the entire Barcelona squad has agreed to take a pay cut by 70 per cent while football is on hold due to COVID-19 pandemic. There was plenty of speculation going around whether Barcelona players will agree to take the wage-reduction amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, however, with Messi coming out in public and announcing the news, all the rumours have been shelved.
Messi took to social media platform Instagram to confirm that all Blaugrana players will be taking a pay cut while adding that they will alsoensureall club employees continue to receive 100 per cent of their salary during the crisis situation.
The Argentine maestro, in his statement, said that there were members of the club who tried to put unnecessary pressure on the players but the playing staff did what they had intended.
Messi further said that the reason the players didn’t make it public because they wanted to find real solutions rather than just contribute a part of their salaries. The left-footed wizard added that they all knew there were going to salary drops due to the unprecedented situations but further said that players are always the first to help the club when asked.
Lionel Messi’s statement in full (English):
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“It doesn’t cease to surprise us that within the club there were those who tried to put us under the limelight and add pressure for us to do exactly what we intended,” read Messi’s statement.
“On our behalf, it’s time to announce that, besides reducing our wage by 70% during the State of Emergency we’ll also contribute so that club employees can count on 100% of their salary as long as the current situation doesn’t change.
“The reason we hadn’t made this public was our need to find real solutions in order to help the club, but also those most affected by this situation. There was always going to be a drop in the salary we receive, because we understand that this is an exceptional situation and we are the first ones who have ALWAYS helped the club when it has asked us,” read the statement.
“Many times we have even done it on our own initiative.”