Messi remains highest earning footballer as Barca to cut player wages due to COVID-19

Barcelona have announced plans to reduce player and staff wages in a bid to “minimise the economic impact” caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Spanish football was suspended for an indefinite period earlier this month, with a resumption only taking place once the government and health bodies are satisfied there is no longer a risk to public health.

With no sport possible and the subsequent effect on income streams, Barcelona announced on Thursday night they would be implementing measures in an attempt to reduce the economic impact of the crisis. Among the measures decided by the club’s board was “adapting the contractual obligations of the club staff to the new and temporary circumstances that we are experiencing”.

Barca say that, as the working day has been reduced by the coronavirus, then salaries will be proportionally reduced.

A club statement read: “It is about the presentation of the different relative files in the sporting field (football and other professional sports), as well as for the rest of the non-sporting personnel.

“These files will be processed before the Treball Department of the Generalitat de Catalunya, once the club has shared all aspects related to these measures, and their scope, with all its staff, both sporting and non-sporting.

“Basically it is a reduction of the working day, imposed by the circumstances and the protection measures carried out, and, as a consequence, the proportional reduction of the remuneration provided for in the respective contracts.”

The reigning La Liga champions, who were two points clear at the top of the table when the suspension came in, also announced ways in which they were looking to help combat the impact of coronavirus. They include making the club’s facilities available to the local health department, and contacting and helping supporters over the age of 80 who have been affected by the crisis.

According to Forbes, Messi could take Barca’s wage cut and still be among the top three highest-paid athletes in the world. He earns $90 million annually. Cutting the star winger’s pay by 70 per cent would save the club an estimated $50 million, which would more than cover its operating loss last year.

The Barcelona forward is the highest-paid soccer player, earning $111 million and taking home $84 million in salary and winnings, and another $27 million in endorsements.

Messi has a lifetime deal with Adidas. Other deals include Gatorade, Pepsi, and Huawei.

Meanwhile, Espanyol have asked labour authorities in Catalonia to allow them to cut player and staff salaries by 70 percent while football is suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, the La Liga club said Friday.

The Barcelona-based outfit, who are bottom of La Liga, are among a raft of clubs set to take a huge financial hit due to the suspension of football in Spain, one of the countries worst hit by COVID-19.

“Due to the temporary suspension of the season and the current extraordinary situation, Espanyol have presented a plan of partial unemployment,” the club said in a statement.

“The requested measure consists of a 70 percent reduction in working hours.”

Espanyol said that the proposed reduction regards players and coaching staff from the men’s and women’s first teams, Espanyol B and youth teams, and was made “unilaterally for reasons of urgency”.

City rivals Barcelona said on Thursday that they were cutting salaries -- although they did not specify who would be affected -- in order to stave off financial issues, with football in Spain suspended until further notice as the country joins Italy at the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Friday the Spanish government announced that over 4,800 people have died in the country as a result of the virus after 769 people died in the previous 24 hours, a record one-day figure for fatalities in Spain.

Agencies