'Arsenal Make 55 Members Of Staff Redundant Due To The Coronavirus Pandemic

Arsenal have announced they have made 55 members of staff redundant due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Gunners finished eighth in the Premier League this season and won the FA Cup on Saturday.

Despite this, Managing Director Vinai Venkatesham and Head of Football Raul Sanllehi have released a joint statement explaining the consequences of the pandemic.

"Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic we have been working hard to ensure that Arsenal Football Club emerges in a robust and strong position for the future," the statement read.

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Arsenal have made 55 club employees redundant due to the COVID 19 pandemic! pic.twitter.com/zVr5D0imFQ
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) August 5, 2020

"In line with other football clubs and many other businesses operating in the sport, leisure and entertainment arena, we have been impacted directly by COVID-19.

"Our main sources of income have all reduced significantly. Revenue from broadcasters, matchday and commercial activities have all been hit severely and these impacts will continue into at least the forthcoming 2020/21 season.

"The pandemic represents one of the most challenging periods in our 134-year history and we have responded promptly by implementing wide-ranging measures to reduce our costs.

"Our players, senior football staff and executive team have volunteered pay cuts, we have stopped pretty much all of our capital spending, and our discretionary operating expenditure has been strictly controlled.

"Over recent years we have consistently invested in additional staff to take the club forward but with the expected reduction of income in mind, it is now clear that we must reduce our costs further to ensure we are operating in a sustainable and responsible way, and to enable us to continue to invest in the team.

Our aim has been to protect the jobs and base salaries of our people for as long as we possibly can. Unfortunately, we have now come to the point where we are proposing 55 redundancies.

We do not make these proposals lightly and have looked at every aspect of the club and our expenditure before reaching this point. We are now entering the required 30-day consultation period on these proposals.