Lionel Messi confirmed on Monday that Barcelona’s players will take a 70 per cent pay cut and make financial contributions to ensure the club’s other employees are paid in full during the state of alarm in Spain.

In a lengthy message posted on
his Instagram account, Messi also took another swipe at the Barca
board, led by president Josep Maria Bartomeu, whom he accused of
undermining the players during recent negotiations.

Other Spanish
clubs are expected to follow suit in applying temporary pay cuts, as
football’s hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic leaves a number of
them fighting for financial survival.

Atletico Madrid have said the club will impose salary reductions on staff whose hours have been affected while Espanyol have also confirmed pay cuts, although for sporting staff only.

“For our part, the time has come to announce that, as well as the reduction of 70 per cent of our salary during the State of Alarm, we will also make contributions so the club’s employees can collect 100 per cent of their salary while this situation lasts,” Messi wrote.

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford is working to get food to children who rely on free school meals after the coronavirus shutdown.

The 22-year-old England international has
teamed up with charity FareShare to help children in the Manchester area
after schools were closed.

And he revealed that his own childhood had inspired him to want to make a difference to the next generation.

“In the past I have done a lot of work in regards to children and when I heard about the schools shutting down, I knew that meant free meals for some kids that they are not getting at school,” Rashford told the BBC.

“I
remember when I was at school I was on free meals and my mum wouldn’t
get home until around six o’clock so my next meal would have been about 8
o’clock. I was fortunate, and there are kids in much more difficult
situations that don’t get their meals at homes.”

Rashford said fundraising had gone well.

“We have got to the £100 000 ($124 000) mark, which means we get to feed 400 000 children so it’s been very positive.”

Manchester United and Manchester City have joined forces to donate to food banks in the area.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday said it has uncovered 35 lottery operators allegedly doing business without core licenses and permits.

It stated this in a series of tweets posted via its verified Twitter handle on Thursday afternoon.

The commission said the discoveries followed an attempt to end tax fraud in the lottery business, adding that only 21 operators and 18 firms were licensed by the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC).

“The 35 illegal companies’ names were unravelled during an investigation on the operations of lottery companies in the country, supported by a document from the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, NLRC, based on request from the EFCC.

“The illegal companies are Emerald Bets International Limited (Emerald Bet), Saharabets Sports Ltd (Surebet247), Bimm Entertainment Ltd (Easy Bet), Champion Superbet (Superbet), EbonyBet, 360Bets Limited, Bet Now Global Business Services Limited, Caryle Investment Limited (BetMunster), Camlake Limited (Wakabet) and West Africa Betting Company Limited (PMUbet).