Barcelona football club’s players will take a 70 percent pay cut and make an extra contribution on top during the enforced La Liga break so that the club’s other employees can earn their full salaries during the coronavirus crisis, captain Lionel Messi said.

In addition to the football players, Barcelona’s professional athletes also agreed to the pay cut in order to pay salaries of non-sporting staff amid the financial impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

“As well as the 70% reduction in our salaries during the national state of emergency, we will make a contribution so that the club’s employees can earn 100% of their salaries during this time,” Messi said on his Instagram account.

Reacting to criticism that the players had not made any announcements about what they were doing to help others during the pandemic, Messi added: “We haven’t spoken until now because our priority was to find real solutions in order to help the club and those who will be most affected by this situation.

“We also could not forget to send all our best wishes to all Barcelona fans who are suffering in these tough times and everyone who is waiting patiently in their home waiting for the end of this crisis.”

So far 7,340 people have died from the virus in Spain. The country is into the third week of a lockdown while all organised football has been postponed indefinitely.