Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi has agreed temporary pay cut of 70 percent to fight Covid-19 pandemic in Spain. The Argentine skipper also confirmed that his team-mates will do same things.
Football around the world has been brought to a standstill by the pandemic with Spain having suffered more than 8,189 deaths from the virus, the second most deadly after Italy.
“For our part, the time has come to announce that, as well as the reduction of 70 per cent of our salary during the State of Alarm, we will also make contributions so the club’s employees can collect 100 per cent of their salary while this situation lasts,” Messi said.
“We want to clarify that our desire has always been to apply a drop in salary because we fully understand that this is an exceptional situation and we are the first ones who have always helped the club when asked. Many times we have even done it on our own initiative when we thought it necessary or important.
“Therefore, it never ceases to amaze us that from within the club there were those who tried to put us under the magnifying glass and tried to add pressure to do something that we always knew we would do.” Messi added.
Last week via his social media, Messi shared a picture of him with his family urging all his supporters to stay at home and respect the guidelines laid down by the authorities.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu on the other hand, said the senior players were on board with taking pay cuts right from the start.
“From the first moment I wanted it be something agreed and not imposed even if I could do it by law, but we wanted to reach an agreement because it’s best for Barca and shows their commitment. From the first moment, Messi said that this must be done,” Bartomeu said.
