Juventus First Team Players Give Up 4 Months’ Pay (Almost SGD$143 Million) to Help Club Tide Over COVID-19 Impact

There’s no facet of life that hasn’t been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

People are dying, businesses are suffering, but worst of all, football players and fans are bored.

Many football leagues all over the world have been suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, with a few players and managers even testing positive for the disease.

Clubs are losing money as a result of the postponed matches, while they still have to pay millions every month to their superstar athletes.

But, fortunately for one Italian team, some of these superstars are willing to give up their salaries for a bit to help their club owners out.

Juventus First Team Players Gives Up 4 Months Pay (Almost SGD$143 Million) to Help Club Tide Over COVID-19 Impact

Juventus’ first-team squad and coach Maurizio Sarri have agreed to give up four months’ wages to help the club manage the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the Italian footballing giant, the monthly payments for March, April, May, and June — will save the club a total of €90 million (S$142.5 million).

Now, given that there are typically 35 players in a first-team squad, this means that each player earns around S$1 million a month.

With this generous donation, these poor guys have to earn a measly S$6 million for the rest of the year.

But hey, we have to give it up to them; they didn’t have to do this.

Juventus’ first-team squad includes Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the best and most recognisable footballer on the planet.

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In addition to giving up his salary, the Juventus forward also donated €1 million (S$1.58 million) to help combat Covid-19 in his native Portugal.

The money will fund two intensive care units for Lisbon’s Hospital de Santa Maria and will equip one ward in Porto’s Santo Antonio hospital with 15 intensive care beds.

For those who don’t know, Juventus is one of Europe’s biggest clubs and by far Italy’s most successful football club domestically.

So the fact that the Covid-19 outbreak is affecting them shows how devastating this pandemic is.

All sport in Italy has been cancelled until at least 3 April but Juventus says it will renegotiate with players “in good faith” should the current season be rescheduled and resumed.

“Juventus would like to thank the players and the coach for their commitment at a difficult time for everyone,” the club said in a statement.

Roma donated care packages to elderly

As you know, Italy has been one of the countries most affected by Covid-19, with 97,689 infections and 10,779 deaths – the highest death toll in the world.

To help those most vulnerable, another Italian club, Roma, has been delivering emergency care packages.

With the whole country on lockdown, many elderly people have been left isolated and vulnerable.

That’s why Roma started delivering its “Roma Cares” packages to every season ticket holder over the age of 75.

These packages include pasta, biscuits, a bottle of beer, 10 surgical face masks, 10 pairs of protective gloves and five bottles of hand sanitizer, as well as that day’s edition of Gazzetta dello Sport.

The club even donated 27,100 masks to hospitals and medical centres across Rome, as well as 120 bottles of hand sanitizer.

At such a trying time, these little acts of kindness can really help lift the mood of those affected by the pandemic.

Other footballing clubs could learn a thing or two from these generous acts.