Lyon president Jean Michel Aulas has asked the players earning above €50,000 per month to take a 25 per cent wage pay cut following the financial crisis that has severely hit French Football. On top of the losses due to the pandemic, French football was dealt a huge blow after a huge TV deal with MediaPro collapsed.
Aulas Asks Players to Take Pay Cut
Players to Get a Share of the Club’s Stock
During a telephone press briefing, Lyon President Aulas revealed the condition of the club’s economic situation and admitted players are needed to take a pay cut. He said: ”We suggested that they intervene on the reduction above a minimum wage that we have set at €50,000 per month, which allows young people not to see their income drop.
“Above this bar of €50,000, the reduction that we propose is significant, of the order of 25 per cent. These would therefore be the largest salaries the most impacted, in absolute value”.
He also said a solution to give the player back their money by providing them a share of the club’s stock. He added: “The club being listed on the stock exchange, we can also imagine that the action bounces back very quickly once the pandemic has passed.
“I, therefore, proposed a second device to those who would like it: to be able to acquire up to the wage savings achieved from the shares during the day, imagining that they will be able to benefit from a good investment in the event of a rebound.
“It would be a great solidarity between the sportsman, the economy and all the employees of the Group. We are in any case satisfied with the listening given to us by the players and we now hope to see one or the other of the solutions succeed, which would allow us to optimize our payroll”.
The news comes hours after Olympique Marseille President Jacques-Henri Eyraud spoke about his club’s difficulties during the FT Business of Football Summit.
A Chance to Return to Top of the Table for Lyon this Week
Despite their financial crunches, Lyon have been impressive this season in Ligue 1. The French club has won 52 points from their opening 25 matches and sit third on the table, three points behind league leaders Lille.
This week could see Lyon getting back to the top if they get all three points against Stade Brestois. With Paris Saint-Germain and Lille set to play their games on Sunday, Les Gones could pile up the pressure against the league leaders.
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