Five-day Negotiations That Culminate In Cutting Wages For Real Madrid Players

JAKARTA - Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are two of the many clubs in Spain that have implemented salary cuts for their players to help fight the crisis caused by COVID-19 or the corona virus. Real Madrid is the next club to implement this move.

Launching MARCA, Thursday, April 9, Los Blancos employees agreed to a reduction of 10 percent of their annual salary - which could increase to 20 percent if the season is not over.

Madrid is not in a hurry to make any decisions about the economic steps they will take. Talks about cutting wages first began last Friday.

General director Jose Angel Sanchez is in charge of initiating these talks, focusing only on the club staff who are playing. After his struggle saw much progress over the weekend, talks continued on Monday in which the club agreed that a pay cut should be made.

It was decided that they would have to save 100 million euros if the season was canceled and 50 million euros when the season started again. These numbers were reiterated to Sergio Ramos by Florentino Perez and the first team captain conveyed this message to his team-mates.

To initiate this implementation, there were various points of view put forward by different members of the squad in the group discussion via video link. Initially, not everyone agreed with some asking for the figures to be lowered to five percent.

Then Ramos stepped in and - supported by Zinedine Zidane and the likes of Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, Thibaut Courtois, Lucas Vazquez and Fede Valverde - the captain persuaded the entire squad to accept a 10 per cent pay cut - or 20 per cent if the season didn't finish.

El Real Madrid CF reduce sus gastos para esta temporada, jugadores, técnicos y empleados acuer and con el club una importante iniciativa de ahorro. # RealMadrid

- Real Madrid CF⚽ (@realmadrid) April 8, 2020

Real Madrid want to set an example because, in the end, they are one of the most respected sporting institutions in Spain. Players are encouraged to help in this crisis and some have made donations or other related steps to help the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

After all, of course, none of the players dared risk their stability at the club by disapproving of the proposed pay cuts.