Juventus, Ronaldo agree to forgo €90m in wages
FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019 filer, Juventus team players pose prior to the start of the Champions League Group D soccer match against Bayer Leverkusen. Photo: AP
Cristiano Ronaldo and his Juventus teammates along with coach Maurizio Sarri agreed to forgo 90 million in wages on Saturday to help the club during the coronavirus crisis.
The club said the money amounted to four months worth of wages, a third of players’ salaries.
The first agreement of its kind in Serie A since play was halted three weeks ago means Ronaldo, the highest-paid player in the Italian league, will give up 10 million euros.
Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini, who has an economics degree, led the negotiations with the club and fellow players.
“Should the current season’s matches be rescheduled, the club will negotiate in good faith with the players and the coach conditional increases of compensations according to the actual resumption and finalization of official competitions,” Juventus said.
Aiming for a record- extending ninth straight Serie A title, Juventus leads the standings by one point from Lazio.
“Juventus would like to thank the players and the coach for their commitment at a difficult time for everyone,” the club concluded.
All sports in Italy have been suspended under a nationwide lockdown through April 3 but health experts have said the need to try to contain the COVID-19 will likely last weeks beyond that. League officials have discussed resuming Serie A in May.
Three Juventus players – Daniele Rugani, Blaise Matuidi and Paulo Dybala – have tested positive for COVID-19.
Overall, Italy has nearly 100,000 positive cases and days ago surpassed the total of China, where the outbreak began in early 2020.
Earlier this month, the Agnelli family that controls Juventus donated 10 million euros in relief funds to Italy’s civil protection agency.
Agnelli might reject mid-season title
Juventus President Andrea Agnelli has hinted that he will not accept the SerieA title.This assertion was based on current standings after ‘liking’ a Twitter post.
Juve lead the Serie A table by a point, picking up a total of 63 from 26 games before the season was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
FIGC chief Gabriele Gravina has stated several times that he will do all he can to ensure the campaign is completed, also declaring there will be a title winner in 2019-20.
However, Agnelli ‘ liked’ a Twitter post – dated March 26 – that read: “It would be marvellous, but saying ‘no thanks’ would be even more marvellous!”
The Turin giants maintain they have won 37 titles, but the FIGC argues they have won 35 because of the Calciopoli scandal, which saw them stripped of the 04-05 and 05-06 titles.