Sociedad ‘reverse’ their plan to resume training

Cyprus players reject pay cut proposal

MADRID, April 14, (AP): Spanish soccer club Real Sociedad are going back on their plan to resume practicing at the team’s training center during the coronavirus pandemic.

The club say they made the decision after discussions with the Spanish government. They say they are “fully aware of their responsibility during the current pandemic” and “players will continue to train at home.”

Real Sociedad had said they would give their players the option to start training individually at the team’s training center beginning on Tuesday. It would be the first Spanish club to return to practice during the pandemic.

Spain is starting to loosen some of its lockdown measures this week by allowing non-essential workers to return to their activities while observing social-distancing guidelines. But group activities will remain prohibited and sports facilities won’t be allowed to reopen.

Cyprus soccer players rejected a Cyprus Football Association proposal of a 23% cut to salaries aimed at helping teams cope with the financial strain of a season suspended due to coronavirus restrictions.

The players’ association said in a letter to the FA on Monday that it’s unfair for players to take such a hit on their annual pay when three quarters of the season has been played.

It said cuts should be calculated relative to the losses teams will incur during the period of suspended play and not the full season.

Under the proposal, the association calculated players would be paid only a fifth of their monthly income from the March 15 start of the season’s suspension to the end of June when it’s expected to be completed.

The players urged the FA to come up with a “more reasonable” proposal that follows FIFA guidelines and was calculated based on the teams’ real losses.

A lower-level German soccer team have sold more than 125,000 tickets to a fictional game.

Fourth-division club Lokomotive

Leipzig said they had set an “attendance record” by selling so many tickets for a “virtual game against an invisible opponent on May 8.”

The former East German league club have been selling symbolic tickets for 1 euro ($1.10) with the goal of beating the record set in 1987 when 120,000 fans attended the Cup Winners’ Cup semifinal match against at Central Stadium.

Beth Mead was running around a park when she spotted Arsenal teammates at a distance.

“All we can do is wave at the other side,” Mead said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s hard. But we are so excited to see each other.”