Barcelona Release Statement Confirming Intention to Cut Wages Amid First-Team Standoff

Barcelona have released a statement confirming their intention to address the crippling financial impact of COVID-19 with a formal process to introduce player and staff wage cuts underway. This comes despite reports of first-team players being unwilling to accept the club's latest proposals.

Football clubs across the globe have been hit the postponement and resulting lack of fans in attendance the virus has forced, from the upper echelons of Europe all the way down into non-league football.

Barcelona, have announced losses of €97m and a 14% fall in revenue from the previous year.

Barça imposed a temporary pay cut of 70% on its staff earlier this year, during the height of the pandemic. Now, in a bid to lessen further financial impact, a statement has been released confirming that steps are being taken to lower the club's overall wage bill temporarily.

The statement reads: "The impact of the pandemic this year is much stronger than in the previous one, in which the incidence was limited to the last quarter. The current season will be affected in its entirety, so the negative impact will multiply exponentially.

"The club anticipates a drop in revenue of more than 30% and is therefore compelled to find immediate solutions that will help reduce spending. The club's aim is to reach an agreement with its entire workforce, which will go through a joint solution of temporary, gradual, proportional, and specific salary adjustment for each of the groups.

"All of this will surely help meet this season’s budget and lay the groundwork for the challenges ahead once this global health crisis is over."

A report from last week claimed Barcelona's first team had rejected the latest proposed wage cut from president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who faces a vote of no confidence next month.

Four players - Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Clement Lenglet, Gerard Pique and Frenkie de Jong - have already agreed to temporary pay cuts as part of the new long-term deals they signed. Previous pay cuts were agreed, but new agreements need to be made to continue battling the crisis. Some players are said to oppose the idea.

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