It's official: Serie A players get a pay cut

The Serie A league approved, in a video assembly organized on Monday, a reduction of the a third of footballer's salary in the case of the definitive abandonment of the season 2019-2020 and of a sixth if the competition will be resumed after the pandemic of the coronavirus.

Following a lack of consensus with the Italian Players' Association (AIC), there was an emergency summit between the clubs.

The decision was unanimously approved by the presidents of the Serie A clubs at Monday's meeting and was necessary "to save the future of the country's football system," which faces losses that could reach one billion euros, the Serie A League said in an official statement.

"The losses must be contained by a reduction in expenses, whose main weight for the clubs is represented by the salaries of the players. The Serie A league approved unanimously on Monday, except for Juventus which already reached an agreement with its players, a common line to contain the impact of player, coach and manager salaries," reads the official statement.

"A reduction of one third of the total gross annual salary is planned, that is to say four months, in the event that sporting activity cannot be resumed, and a reduction of one-sixth of the total annual salary if the remaining matches of the 2019-2020 season can be played in the coming months," it added.

"The clubs will directly define the agreements with their players," concludes the long note of the Serie A , chaired by Paolo Dal Pino.

This decision does not affect Juventus, who were the first club to reach, two weeks ago, a private agreement with their squad not to pay their salaries for the months of March, April, May and June.

The Serie A league also reiterated its desire to end the current season, which was interrupted on 9 March by the outbreak of the coronavirus, which has already caused more than 15,000 deaths in the country.