The Serie A League proposes salary reductions for footballers
The Serie A League recently proposed reducing the salaries of footballers by one third in the event that the season is canceled, or by one sixth if the tournament does conclude. However, the Italian Footballers Association (AIC) strongly rejected this proposal.
An open war between the two parties has generated debate in the world of Italian football. The Serie A, the country's top division, has been suspended since March 9th due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"We don't know if, how, or when we will be able to play again. At this moment, we cannot determine if a club will suffer financial damage or the extent of it. Specifically, we don't know in what format the games will resume," said Cascella, an international sports law expert, in an interview with EFE.
The Serie A was interrupted during matchday 26 and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) stressed the importance of completing the season, even after June 30th, in order to contain losses that could reach up to one billion euros according to EFE's information. These losses include ticket sales, television rights, and sponsorships.
According to Cascella, the proposal to reduce player salaries, which was approved by Serie A clubs, is due to the fact that many clubs have serious problems closing their balance sheets at the end of the season.
"The real problems of the clubs often arise from the fact that, despite increasing their revenues, they always suffer losses, which means that they always spend more than they earn," he remarked.
"If there was more attention to the balance sheets, these problems wouldn't exist. Obviously, both clubs and players must make sacrifices. However, it seems that clubs want to corner the players. People see players as privileged and rich, and therefore believe they should accept a pay cut," he continued.
While it is true that there are many players in Serie A with millionaire salaries (the salaries of footballers represent 1.5 billion euros annually for clubs), in Serie B and Serie C (the second and third divisions), contracts are much lower.
"One thinks of Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku. But in Serie C, 70% of players earn less than 50,000 euros gross annually. The minimum is 16,000 euros per year. The AIC represents 1,000 players, each with different problems," Cascella emphasized.
Although it is premature to reduce salaries at the moment without knowing the exact extent of the damage, Cascella recognized that it will be necessary for both players and clubs to reach a common sense agreement to preserve the future of the football system.
"There is no obligation for players to take a pay cut. The risk is that the system may collapse. We are living in a unique situation and the danger is that the system may collapse. Clubs may regret the force majeure that prevents them from paying, but it would mean that in the end they would go bankrupt, either the teams or the system," the lawyer said.
"Obviously, the desire is to resume competition as soon as possible and under conditions that allow the leagues to be completed. The damage will be limited if the competition resumes, which would help alleviate the economic losses," he added.
For now, according to Cascella, a viable solution may be to temporarily suspend the payment of salaries to Serie A players, who receive high wages, until the exact economic damage suffered by national football can be quantified.