Bayer Leverkusen follow Bayern Munich and Barcelona by introducing pay cuts during coronavirus lockdown

German Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen have become the latest major football club to introduce pay cuts after players, staff and management agreed unanimously on Wednesday to unspecified wage reductions. Other German clubs including champions Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Union Berlin, and Borussia Monchengladbach recently introduced similar wage cuts , as have Spanish sides Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and Espanyol, and Italian champions Juventus. "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," Leverkusen captain Lars 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.

Bayer Leverkusen follow Bayern Munich and Barcelona by introducing pay cuts during coronavirus lockdown

Play in the Bundesliga has been suspended since mid-March and the DFL on Tuesday extended the league suspension until at least April 30