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Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund stars to take pay cut during the coronavirus crisis

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Bayern MunichImage source, Getty Images
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Bayern's players in training before the coronavirus lockdown

Players and directors at Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have agreed to take temporary pay cuts.

Both German giants said the move was to help the other employees at the club financially during the coronavirus crisis.

Players at Union Berlin, 11th in the Bundesliga, announced they will go entirely without their wages.

Last week, Borussia Monchengladbach's players were the first in the country to offer to forgo wages.

Bayern players will take a 20% pay cut, while Dortmund players will "waive part of their salaries".

There has been no Bundesliga action since 8 March as the coronavirus outbreak hit sport across the world.

The entire first team squad at Union Berlin said they had made the decision to go without their wages due to an "extraordinary and difficult situation".

There was no timescale on how long they would be without pay.

"The first-team football department has agreed to waive their salaries," the club said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The club's managers and employees have also agreed to part-time working arrangements, which will also result in salary cuts. At the same time, we are pulling together to prepare for a full-time resumption of Bundesliga operations at any time."

Last week, Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski and his wife Anna contributed 1m euros (拢920,000) to fight the disease.

Team-mates Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich also set up a fund called "We Kick Corona" to combat the pandemic and contributed 1m euros between them.

On Wednesday, German authorities announced there had been 31,554 cases of coronavirus in the country and 149 deaths.