Messi: Barcelona players agreed to cut 70% of their salaries and compensate employees and workers

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has announced that the Spanish football champions have agreed to reduce their salaries by as much as 70% due to stopping the competitions due to the spread of Corona virus in Spain and Europe.

"All the players have agreed to reduce their salaries by 70% in light of the circumstances the club is going through after the Corona virus pandemic that struck the world last days and caused the suspension of sports and soccer tournaments indefinitely," Messi said in a statement through his official account on Instagram today.

Messi denied the recent reports that Barcelona players refused to reduce their salaries by saying, "Although the intention of the players since the first day of the Corona virus crisis was to reduce salaries, there are those who leaked our refusal to reduce from within the club."

On behalf of the players, Messi confirmed the support of all the employees of the Catalan club by contributing to alleviating the crisis on their behalf through a great humanitarian position, where "the players decided to pay the sums that will be deducted by the club management from the salaries of employees and workers, so that they get their full salaries."

Barcelona announced a few days ago a 70% reduction in the salaries of all club employees, in addition to professional players as well, which was followed by Spanish reports indicating that the football team refused to reduce their salaries, which Messi categorically denied.