Leverkusen players agree pay cut amid virus pandemic

Bayer Leverkusen players, staff and management on Wednesday unanimously agreed to accept an unspecified pay cut as the Bundesliga remains suspended amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Leverkusen captain Lars Bender said discussions had taken place in the last few weeks and on Tuesday they reached an agreement.

“The team is ready to waive part of the salaries in order to support the club in its efforts to financially overcome the corona crisis,” Bender said in a club statement following a makeshift training session where players trained only in pairs.

Team training cannot resume before April 5.

“We again got a very concrete idea in the empty BayArena stadium today about how important the various colleagues are in breathing life into the club and how important each and every one of them is in providing us with ideal conditions to do our job.”

Play in the Bundesliga has been suspended since mid-March and the German Football League (DFL) on Tuesday extended the league suspension until at least April 30.

The DFL has also hinted that should play resume in the coming weeks or months, it would most likely be without spectators.