Marseille (AFP)

Three weeks after an agreement to temporarily lower the salaries of Ligue 1 footballers during the coronavirus pandemic, this promise is slow to materialize, especially in Paris SG, Marseille and Lyon, where over-the-counter negotiations drag on.

"We will try to do it," promised striker Pablo Sarabia, in an interview with AFP in mid-April, but no salary agreement has yet been announced among the big clubs of L1 and time is pressing, because the end of the month is approaching. Not to mention that big decisions on the rest of the season could be made this week.

"I expect them to make an effort for their club. They know their responsibilities," asked PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi on the radio at RMC, while the payroll of the Paris workforce is estimated. to 337 million euros by UEFA, more than half of its budget.

However, the shortfall for the PSG due to the health crisis is estimated internally at more than 200 M EUR.

However, on April 7, the clubs and the players' union, the UNFP, agreed to postpone part of the wages until better days. But this is only a recommendation.

The law does not provide "the possibility for an employer to impose a drop in wages on his employee without his agreement," said AFP Me Sevan Karian, lawyer specializing in sports law.

- "Go further"? -

The agreement signed three weeks ago mentions a drop proportional to the salary. It offers four installments: 20% less remuneration in April for players earning between 10,000 and 20,000 euros; 30%, for those between 20,000 and 50,000 euros; 40%, for those between 50,000 and 100,000; and finally 50% less for those receiving more than 100,000 euros per month.

Players receiving less than 10,000 euros in the context of partial unemployment, or 70% of their gross monthly salary, are not affected by this device.

At OM, it is believed that "the agreement is going in the right direction", and "the efforts required" of the Olympians "are different according to the salary levels," we confirm.

"But if the TV rights for the season were not to be paid in full (in the event of a permanent cessation of the championship, editor's note), we would have to go further," added one.

According to the agent of a Marseilles player, the principle of a reduction of wages "flows from source", taking into account in particular the strong remunerations of certain stars.

"If I were a player, I would lower my salary, but not those of the employees, that they keep their normal salary," said the source.

On this subject, the president Jacques-Henri Eyraud and his sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta announced during an internal videoconference last week that they were both going, on a personal basis, to compensate for the loss of wages linked to partial unemployment of all employees paid below 2,300 euros gross, we learned from a source at the club.

- Lyon "very close to an agreement" -

The operation, which concerns around 80 employees, is in addition to other initiatives by the club, which for example hosts in its training center women victims of domestic violence during the pandemic. It also helps set an example for players.

Reaching an agreement seems urgent for OM, followed by UEFA's financial fair play.

But "Lyon also demands lower wages and has no problem with money," said the agent interviewed by AFP.

The president of OL, Jean-Michel Aulas, is more nuanced. "We will have potentially significant losses," he warns, explaining having "immediately seized our banks to help us. We are on the verge of obtaining the PGE (loan guaranteed by the state) which can represent up to 25% of group turnover, ie 77 million euros for OL Groupe ".

But neither has OL yet reached agreement on lower wages.

"This is obviously a difficult subject to tackle in public because we are talking about personal things," said Aulas on the club's OLTV channel, while being optimistic.

"We are very close to an agreement with the players and we continue to chat with the male group," said the OL president.

"JMA" adds that for the moment this is only a drop concerning "an extremely short period, but which could be extended if unfortunately we do not resume" competition in mid-June. And the negotiations could still stretch ...

© 2020 AFP