AS Roma Soccer Players Accept Paycut Saving The Team ‘$32 Million’

Italian soccer giant AS Roma announced on Sunday it reached an understanding with soccer players over salary cuts.

The giallorossi players, staff and Portuguese coach Paulo Fonseca have volunteered to forego four months of salary – March, April, May and June – to financially help the club. 

According to Calcio e Finanza, an Italian website specialized in soccer finance, the measure would result in a saving for the club’s budget in the region of $32 million.

Club management will also give up a percentage of their salary in order to protect employees previously furloughed during the shutdown.

The team is struggling due to the SARS-COVID-2 pandemic, who prompted the Italian soccer league to be suspended and is threatening to scrap the remainder of the Serie A soccer season.

A statement on AS Roma website reads: “AS Roma CEO Guido Fienga today praised the decision by the players, the coach and the coach’s staff to give up their salaries for the remainder of the season to help the club.

“Club captain Edin Dzeko, all the players and Paulo have demonstrated they understand what this club stands for and we also thank them all for their superb gesture towards the employees at this club.

“If the current season resumes and is completed, the club and the players, coach and his staff have agreed an incentive plan to be paid subject to the achievement of certain sporting objectives”.

The measure was decided collectively by the dressing room, as stated in a letter signed by all the players and addressed to AS Roma CEO Guido Fienga.

“We are writing to express our support to the company for all that it is doing in this period to overcome the difficulties created by the Covid-19 emergency.

“We also confirm all of our support for the initiatives of AS Roma and Roma Cares to help those who find themselves in difficulty because of the virus”.

AS Roma is not the first team to announce salary cuts, as Juventus and Parma already announced the same measure.

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The salary cuts arrive after Italian soccer clubs announced on April 6 a collective agreement over players’ wage reduction.

Italy’s top-flight soccer league might not return until at least the beginning of June, with the nation recording over 23,000 deaths as a result of the SARS-COV-2 outbreak, according to the latest World Health Organization report.

Last Friday the FIGC – the Italian soccer federation – drawn up a protocol to resume league football in Italy.

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The plan was forwarded to both Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora and Health Minister Roberto Speranza, and is expected to be approved by the end of next week.