Football
Adriana Garcia 4y

Maradona offers to cut pay during pandemic to help Argentina club

Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata coach Diego Maradona has offered to cut his salary during the coronavirus pandemic to help the relegation-threatened outfit, club president Gabriel Pellegrino has said. 

Argentinian football has been suspended indefinitely since March 17 and Superliga clubs are in discussions to cut the wages of players and staff to cope with the financial impact of the pandemic.

"We exchanged messages and he [Maradona] was among the first that said that if we had to review his salary to take it into account because he was willing to do that," Pellegrino told CieloSports.

Maradona, 59, took the helm of the club from La Plata, just outside Buenos Aires, in September.

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His contract with Gimnasia expires on Aug. 22 but Pellegrino is convinced Maradona will continue beyond his current deal.

"Maradona is not looking at when his contract expires, far from it," Pellegrino said. "He is at home right now but he will come back. He is ready to return when this is over."

Asked how the Argentinian legend is dealing with the lockdown, Pellegrino added: "Diego is well, bored like everyone else... He is looking after himself because he has an age that is closer to the risk group than the rest of us, but dealing with this the best he can."

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