MUNICH – Captain Manuel Neuer has said it is natural players
should accept pay cuts during the coronavirus crisis after the Bayern
Munich squad agreed reductions in salary.
"We footballers are an especially privileged professional group, for
whom it is self-evident to take a financial cut when there is a
need," Neuer told the tz and Muenchner Merkur papers on Wednesday.
"Bayern have around 1,000 staff and many more around the club who
carry out important tasks. We wanted to help them as a team with the
move and offer them security," the 33-year-old Neuer said.
The players' council around Neuer came to an agreement with chairman
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, sport director Hasan Salihamidzic and advisory
board member Oliver Kahn that the squad and leading officials would
take a 20 per cent cut.
This would enable Bayern to avoid placing other staff on restricted
hours and cutting their wages.
Neuer and colleagues in the German national team had already
announced a 2.5 million euro donation to social causes amid the
crisis, a decision he said was "not at all difficult."
The Germany captain, however, added it "shouldn't be forgotten" many
leading sports people help socially even outside crisis times. He
himself has a foundation to support underprivileged children.