Juventus players and coach Maurizio Sarri have reached an agreement over a wage reduction that will save the Italian champions 90 million euros ($NZ166m) this season, the Serie A club announced on Sunday (NZ time).
Sarri and the players have agreed to what amounts to a four-month pay cut to help Juve during the coronavirus crisis.
The agreement comes at a time when leading clubs around Europe have had to slash wage bills because of the dramatic impact of matches having to be postponed or played behind closed doors due to the spread of the virus.
"The economic and financial effects of the understanding reached are positive for about 90 million euros for the 2019/2020 financial year", Juventus said.
"The understanding provides for the reduction of the compensation for an amount equal to the monthly payments of March, April, May and June 2020", it added, saying personal agreements with Sarri and the players will be finalised in the coming weeks.
Long-standing player Giorgio Chiellini is understood to have led the players' negotiations amid reports in the Italian media that Cristiano Ronaldo had agreed to sacrifice 3.8 million euros ($NZ7m) of his yearly wage to ease the financial burden on the club while Italy is in lockdown.
The Turin-based club, in one of the regions hit hardest by the crisis, has had three players test positive for the virus - forward Paulo Dybala, defender Daniele Rugani and midfielder Blaise Matuidi.
Soccer around the world has been brought to a standstill by the pandemic and Italy's top-fight Serie A has been suspended since March 9.
"Should the current season's matches be rescheduled, the club will negotiate in good faith with the players and the coach conditional increases of compensation according to the actual resumption and finalisation of official competitions," the club added.
The agreement comes the day after leading Spanish club Atletico Madrid took the decision to cut the wages of their staff, including the players, to ease the financial burden on the club.
Atletico joined La Liga rivals Barcelona, who imposed a compulsory wage reduction on their players during the period of lockdown after Spain became the second-most affected country by the coronavirus in Europe behind Italy.Italy has the highest number of deaths in any country from the virus so far.
Reuters
