UK: Derby County agrees to wage deferrals over virus

By Emre Asikci

ANKARA (AA) - English Championship League side Derby County players and staff on Tuesday agreed to take wage deferrals due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"First team players have voluntarily agreed a substantial deferral that is considerably more than has been reported in the media, while Phillip Cocu and his coaching team, and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Pearce and his staff have also agreed significant deferrals," Derby County said on its website.

The club, based in the East Midlands, also said that in addition to players, football management, executives, and non-furloughed staff have agreed to take wage deferrals as part of the ongoing response to the virus.

With the deferrals, Derby joined several championship English teams, including Leeds United, Wigan, Bristol City, Cardiff City, and Swansea City.

The team was in the 12th spot before league games were suspended in England.

As of Tuesday, the UK registered 586 more deaths from coronavirus over the past 24 hours, health authorities said, bringing the tally in the country to 21,678.

After first appearing in China last December, COVID-19 has spread to at least 185 countries and regions.

Data compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University shows worldwide infections nearing 3.1 million with more than 216,000 deaths. Over 920,000 have recovered.