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Kolkata's footballing giants East Bengal and Mohun Bagan have reportedly taken a pragmatic decision regarding salary cuts of their first team players amidst the coronavirus lockdown. Despite the lack of action for the footballers, the two clubs have decided to pay off the players till the end of this season, Sportskeeda has learnt.
"We have paid all the dues of the first team till the end of this season i.e May 31, 2020," said an East Bengal official who refused to be named.
Mohun Bagan have followed suit by paying the dues of their first team for the 2019-20 season. The Mariners have also begun proceedings to zero in on their squad for the next season with the ATK management. A few weeks ago, both clubs announced a merger, meaning that ATK and Mohun Bagan will play as one unit (ATK-Mohun Bagan) in the ISL in the upcoming term.
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The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in massive revenue losses for football clubs across the world. Top leagues like the Premier League, the La Liga, the Serie A, the Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga are pushing clubs to agree to salary cuts for their first-team players to sustain themselves in the current scenario.
Several players have voluntarily agreed to do so in order to pay the salaries of the other officials and staff at the club. FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid players have agreed a 70% salary cut while Real Madrid have also narrowed down on a salary cut approximately amounting to 10-20%. Funds are being crowdsourced in Germany and Italy as the globe battles the pandemic.
On the other hand, Indian football teams playing in the city, state, women and lower divisions are expected to not be greatly affected by the circumstances. The above would be due to their existing contracts being short and of a terminating nature. Additionally, there isn't significant cost involved in such agreements.
However, ISL and I-League clubs might have to go down the same route as their continental counterparts due to the longevity of their player contracts and the lack of current revenue.
