Coronavirus: Ronaldo, Juve stars agree huge pay cuts

Cristiano Ronaldo and his Juventus teammates are taking hefty pay cuts as coronavirus hits sport hard.
​Ronaldo and his Juventus teammates along with coach Maurizio Sarri agreed to forgo 90 million euros (NZ$166 million) in wages on Sunday to help the club during the coronavirus crisis.
The club said the money amounted to four months worth of wages – a third of players’ salaries.
The first agreement of its kind in Serie A since play was halted three weeks ago means Ronaldo, the highest-paid player in Serie A, will give up 10 million euros (NZ$18 million).
Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini, who has an economics degree, led the negotiations with the club and fellow players.
“Should the current season’s matches be rescheduled, the club will negotiate in good faith with the players and the coach conditional increases of compensations according to the actual resumption and finalisation of official competitions,” Juventus said.
Aiming for a record-extending ninth-straight Serie A title, Juventus lead the standings by one point from Lazio.
“Juventus would like to thank the players and the coach for their commitment at a difficult time for everyone,” the club said.
All sports in Italy have been suspended under a nationwide lockdown through April 3 but health experts have said the need to try to contain COVID-19 will likely last weeks beyond that.
League officials have discussed resuming Serie A in May.
Three Juventus players – Daniele Rugani, Blaise Matuidi and Paulo Dybala – have tested positive for COVID-19.
Overall, Italy has nearly 100,000 positive cases and days ago surpassed the total of China, where the outbreak began in early 2020.
Earlier this month, the Agnelli family that controls Juventus donated 10 million euros (NZ$18 million) in relief funds to Italy’s civil protection agency.
Last week, Ronaldo and agent Jorge Mendes made a donation, reportedly more than 1 million euros (NZ$1.85 million) to fund three intensive care units for coronavirus patients in Portugal hospitals.