Bayern, Dortmund players take pay cuts to help clubs amid COVID-19 threat

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund announced that staff from the two Bundesliga giants will forego a portion of their wages to relieve financial pressure on the clubs during the coronavirus pandemic.

Bayern's first team and directors agreed to take temporary 20% pay cuts in order to help other employees, the club confirmed to BBC Sport on Wednesday.

Dortmund players and club executives are also forgoing a portion of their wages, with CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke calling it a "valuable sign of solidarity to the public and to our 850 employees," according to ESPN UK's Stephan Uersfeld.

"Borussia Dortmund will save tens of millions in total, which will help ... protect BVB as one of the city of Dortmund's biggest employers amid the coronavirus crisis," the club said in a statement.

Union Berlin also announced Wednesday that several members of the club were waiving their respective salaries to help the overall financial state of the Bundesliga newcomers.

Bayern and Dortmund are the latest German sides to follow suit after Borussia Monchengladbach players were the first in the Bundesliga to voluntarily forego wages last week.

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski and his wife, Anna, already pledged €1 million to help with the consequences of COVID-19, and the Poland international's club teammates Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich launched the We Kick Corona charity. Goretzka and Kimmich donated €1 million each.

The Bundesliga suspended play until at least April 2, with the German Football League (DFL) announcing Monday that it's pushing to extend the suspensions of the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 "until at least April 30."

As of Tuesday evening, Germany had reported 35,714 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 181 deaths.