AS Monaco is attempting to further lower the salaries of its playing staff in an effort to cover expenses while matches remain suspended due to the coronavirus crisis. With 147 million euros in payroll, according to accounts published by the DNCG on March 11, the club has the second-highest payroll behind Ligue 1 giants PSG, at 371 million.
The Covid-19 pandemic put a firm halt to the French championship on March 13, and since then ASM has struggled without regular televised matches and ticket sales. In March, a partial unemployment procedure was put in place to limit expenses.
Canal + and BeIn, the championship broadcasters, refuse to pay the clubs until the championship continues, which may not happen before mid-July at the soonest. With 70 players under contract, Vice-President Oleg Petrov has moved to cut the player’s salaries further for the remainder of April and possibly for May and June.
For the more expensive players, this secondary cut could be up to 50 percent of their original salaries, in line with an agreement made by the UNFP and the LFP. The agreement also provides that the percentage of wages cut will be redistributed when the next TV rights are sold.
Despite this, the Principality’s players have unanimously refused to accept the proposal. How the deadlock will be broken, if at all, remains to be seen.
