Montevideo, Mar 28 (IANS): The Uruguayan Football Federation (AUF) has laid off 400 members of its staff, including men's first team coach Oscar Tabarez, who has led the side since 2006 and won a Copa America title with them.

The AUF has thus laid of almost all of its staff as it deals with the economic ramifications of coronavirus that has brought football to a standstill around the world.

"The executive committee informs that, due to the current health crisis which has brought to a halt all its activities, it is obliged to take a series of tough decisions in order to protect the future functioning of the institution," the AUF said in a statement on Friday.

It said that the main reason to do this was so its staff can "collect their unemployment insurance." The communique however said that in a short time, "the ball will start rolling again."

Uruguayan football has been indefinitely suspended since March 13. All FIFA 2022 World Cup qualifiers have also been postponed due to the global crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic. Thus far, it has claimed over 27,000 lives around the world and more than 6 lakh people have been infected globally. Uruguay has reportedly got 274 cases of infection.