Barcelona likely to force unilateral salary reduction after no agreement with players

Spanish giants Barcelona suffered heavy financial losses amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, forcing them to introduce a wage cut for the first-team players. Barcelona have the highest wage bill in Europe and are still unable to cope with their struggling finances this season. The club had urged the players to agree to another round of wage cuts but the players opposed the same, following which the club may impose a wage cut unilaterally. 

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Barcelona finances severely hit, club edging towards bankruptcy

Barcelona appealed to the first team players during Josep Maria Bartomeu's presidency to agree to another round of pay cuts beginning next year. The players stood vehemently against the Barcelona wage cut proposal, expressing their dissatisfaction through a letter addressed to the club hierarchy. 

It was believed Bartomeu's resignation a fortnight ago could bring about some key changes in the administration and the Barcelona wage cut proposal could be withdrawn. However, the club hierarchy is still keen on the idea in an attempt to cut down on the Barcelona wage bill. The club's debt had surged from €217m in June 2019 to €488m in June 2020, as per Marca.

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Barcelona unilateral salary deduction on the cards?

To this extent, the Camp Nou outfit are pondering the idea of a unilateral wage reduction if the players do not agree to the proposals. A report by Catalan radio station RAC1 suggests that top officials believe the wage cut is the sole measure to cut down on the issue surrounding Barcelona's finances. 

The report follows an earlier revelation that Barcelona had extended the deadline to impose the wage cut by a week, or until November 23 after failing to reach an amicable agreement. The deadline has now been pushed, although there's still no clarity on the process. 

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Conflicting views between club and players 

The club and the players have conflicting views on two points. Firstly, the players believe the wage cuts should not be the same for every player and instead, there should be a tier system. Secondly, the players are yet to understand why the B team players of the club will be impacted by the wage cuts, while no such measure has been thought about for the basketball team. 

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Image courtesy: AP