The Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon put its entire employees in partial unemployment starting today, and cut the salaries of its players by 40%, to alleviate its already increasing financial burdens, before the football league was stopped due to the outbreak of the Corona virus, which is emerging.
The Lisbon Capital Club said in a statement published yesterday via the Securities Market Authority that the measures of "temporary suspension" or "reducing working time" would include 95% of employees. The move comes after reducing the salaries of players and members of the first team by 40 percent, and then 50 percent for members of the board of directors, according to what added the club, which defended its colors previously Cristiano Ronaldo.
The club, which played for him the Portuguese soccer legend, and the current Italian star Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo, were in a financial and athletic situation critical before the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, which imposed a state of paralysis on world sports. According to local newspapers, the club also decided not to make a down payment on the transfer of its new coach, Robin Amorim, from Sporting Braga, which is half the value of the deal, which amounts to 10 million euros.
Sporting decided in early March to bring the former international, to become the 35-year-old former Benfica midfielder, the most expensive coach in Portugal, shortly after starting his career with Braga. Amorim has become the sixth coach since Federico Varandas took over the club less than two years ago, in an attempt to straighten the sporting career, which is fourth in the domestic league, 18 points behind leaders Porto before the competition was suspended.