Madrid (AFP)
Athletic Bilbao announced Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with its players to cut their wages in order to lessen the economic effects caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
"The annual salary will drop by 17% if the competition cannot resume and by 6% if the championship resumes behind closed doors", details on its website the Basque club, tenth in the Spanish championship before the interruption of this one in mid-March due to COVID-19.
"The players of the Athletic Club men's first team, under the impulse of their captains, in a gesture of responsibility and great commitment, agreed to voluntarily and significantly reduce their remuneration due to the circumstances which may affect the end of the 2019-20 sporting season ", adds the club also qualified for the King's Cup final, postponed to an unknown date.
Before Athletic Bilbao, another Basque club, Real Sociedad announced a few days ago that their players' wages would drop. A measure already adopted by the big teams that are FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
With 177,633 cases and 18,579 deaths according to the latest assessment, Spain is one of the countries most affected by the pandemic.
© 2020 AFP