Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golder’s News And Sport
Borussia Dortmund’s controversial president is said to be forfeiting a third of his annual salary after top Bundesliga players have been asked to voluntarily waive part of their salaries to “save the clubs.”
The revelation was made by German sports newspaper Kicker and comes after the embattled Dortmund boss was widely criticised for his comments about the measures taken to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
He shocked Germany and made international headlines after saying that showing solidarity with other clubs in the coronavirus pandemic shows a lack of “competitive spirit”.
He had also said: “The risk of contamination in a professional team made up only of high-level athletes cannot be that bad.”
Kicker revealed today (Thursday) that Watzke reportedly wants to waive part of his annual pay, which totalled 1.9 million EUR (1.78 million GBP) – or 160,000 EUR (150,000 GBP) per month – for the 2018-2019 financial year.
The news comes after Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Soeder, among others, proposed a financial contribution from the top players earlier this week. The CSU (Christian Social Union) politician told German newspaper Bild that he would like many of the players “who get very big salaries” to now make do with less.
Christian Seifert, the head of the German Football League (DFL), which runs the Bundesliga, appears to agree. The 50-year-old said: “What Markus Soeder said is what many people think. I know of clubs that have long been talking to their players about it and maybe have already implemented it. Many players have to do their part.”
Seifert had earlier declared at a news conference that the Bundesliga was fighting for its survival and that “tens of thousands of jobs are at stake.”
He had also said: “Yes, we are manufacturing a product and if we no longer manufacture it then we cease to exist.
“It’s not only about the stars. More is at stake than just a few matches.”
Several Bundesliga clubs reportedly face going bankrupt unless a solution is found. German news magazine Focus says that the league itself loses between 60 and 80 million EUR per “ghost game”.
Borussia Moenchengladbach players and staff will waiver part of their salaries amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Former footballer Max Eberl, who currently works as Borussia Moenchengladbach’s director of sport, told regional German daily, the Rheinische Post: “I’m very proud of the guys, they want to give something back to Borussia. The coaching staff are doing it to, as well as our sporting and managing directors.”
But others were not of the same opinion, with FC Koln boss Horst Heldt, 50, responding to Bavaria Prime Minister Soeder by saying: “I think it would make perfect sense to hold back on populist sh*t expressions.”
He added: “I know that football professionals have a social conscience. I find it outrageous and presumptuous to question this publicly.”
The average annual player salary for 2019-2020 is reportedly around 7.4 million GBP for Bayern Munich and 4.6 million GBP for Borussia Dortmund, the top two teams in terms of how much players are paid in Germany.
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