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Report: MLS proposes 20% pay cut for players

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Major League Soccer formally proposed a pay cut to the MLS Players Association, suggesting a 20% reduction to all salaries, a source told Jeff Carlisle and Noah Davis of ESPN.

The league is also seeking additional financial reductions from the MLSPA that aren't related to player wages and hopes to save "tens of millions of dollars," Carlisle and Noah add.

"MLS continues to engage in productive conversations with the MLSPA over ways in which we can collectively address challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic," MLS president and deputy commissioner Mark Abbott said, according to ESPN.

The league has been on hiatus since March 12 due to the coronavirus crisis.

A training moratorium was put in place at the time, but, as is the case with many European clubs, some MLS teams have been allowed to reopen their training facilities in order for players to complete individual workouts while abiding by strict hygiene and social distancing guidelines.

The MLS season is suspended until June 8, at the earliest, and the league continues to explore various scenarios allowing a return to the pitch.

It was reported in April that the league initially suggested a 50% pay cut for players, with those making under $100,000 per year being exempt from the reduction. According to Carlisle and Davis, the latest proposal would apply to every player, regardless of their salary.

Commissioner Don Garber and other league employees reportedly slashed their salaries by up to 25% in early April.

Discussions between the league and its players come at a delicate time. The framework of a new collective bargaining agreement was reportedly reached in February, but the deal wasn't ratified before the COVID-19 crisis hit. Neither the old or new CBA contained a force majeure clause that would give the league unilateral power to cut wages during an extraordinary event like a global health crisis, Carlisle and Davis report.

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