In November 2020, as Barcelona tried to survive a financial crisis accelerated by the pandemic, the club’s players agreed to forego approximately €122 million in basic pay and another €50 million in bonuses. In 2019, a footballer at Barcelona had the highest basic pay of any sporting institution on the planet at an average of $12.2 million a year. They could, it’s safe to say, take the hit. But it wasn’t a loss, it was a deferment. Barcelona would repay the players over the next three seasons. “Short term, the deal got the club halfway out of a big hole,”…

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