Former Arsenal duo Johan Djourou and Alexandre Song are among nine players sacked by Swiss club FC Sion for refusing to take an unemployment settlement in light of the coronavirus.
The entire squad was contacted on social messaging service WhatsApp by president Christian Constantin on Tuesday. Constantin’s message asked the players to take a "technical unemployment" deal which would see them receive a payment that is estimated to be around 12,000 Swiss francs.
The players were given until noon on Wednesday to respond and, although many of them refused or failed to reply, nine were subsequently let go - many of them on contracts that were due to expire at the end of June.