Selfless Gladbach players give up millions to help pay staff in response to coronavirus crisis

Sporting director Max Eberl has revealed the club's players have made a generous offer to help the club deal with the pandemic

players have offered to forego their salaries to help the club pay their staff during the coronavirus crisis.

The , like the majority of leagues across the globe, is suspended due to the outbreak of Covid-19.

A return date of April 2 appears optimistic at best and several teams face a conundrum to tackle cash-flow issues, with revenue streams from home matches, and potentially sponsorship, lost.

In a bid to ensure the club can continue to pay staff, Gladbach's players have come forward with a generous proposal.

"I didn't have to explain much [to the players]," Gladbach's sporting director Max Eberl said in an interview with the club's official website.

"The players know what's going on. It's their job, they have already informed themselves and thought about it.

"The team has offered to forego salary if it can help the club and its employees."

Asked if it was a proposal the club was planning to respond to, Eberl replied: "Yes. I am very proud of the boys.

"It is a clear signal: We stand together for Borussia, in good times and in bad. They want to give something back to Borussia and therefore also to all the fans who support us.

"The coaching staff joined in, just like our directors and managing directors."

The teams in ’s top-flight are already losing revenue but Gladbach managing director Stephan Scheppers say they are determined to finish the season to minimise losses, even if spectators must be excluded.

"In order to avoid a huge financial hit,” he said, “the efforts of the league and all clubs are currently aimed at ending the current season in order to secure TV revenue and sponsorship money.

“This will only work if there is a general commitment and willingness to do so. The willingness to play in this situation even without fans, because it’s hardly realistic to hope that games with spectators will be happening in the next few weeks.

“We all agree: Bundesliga football without fans is not what we want, but for the next few weeks and months we have to realise that only a continuation of the Bundesliga games - without spectators - will allow many clubs to survive economically.”

There have been 13,632 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Germany, with 33 people having died.

Gladbach are fourth in the Bundesliga, six points adrift of leaders .