Spanish court to rule on La Liga strike threat
The Spanish Football League (LFP) presented a lawsuit against the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Spanish professional footballers’ union (AFE) over their plans to halt football from Saturday onwards over a a dispute regarding government interference in the league’s television rights.
The LFP consider the strike action illegal and are hoping to avoid it with help from the courts. The AFE claim players have the right to strike and to be prevented from doing so would be a violation of their constitutional rights.
At the heart of the dispute is a proposed law which will force the RFEF to sell television rights for the Primera Division collectively instead of individually, as is currently the case.
Under the proposed legislation, which has the full backing of the LFP, the Spanish FA would be awarded 4.55% of pools revenue from the government, a figure the federation deems inadequate. The RFEF has the support of the players’ union, who are unhappy at being left out of the negotiations as well as with its own lack of revenue in the deal.
If the strike does takes place, the final two rounds of the Primera Division scheduled for this weekend and next will be affected as well as the Copa del Rey final between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao on May 30. Barcelona lead the La Liga standings by four points over Real Madrid. On Sunday, Barca are supposed to travel to o face Atletico Madrid while Real Madrid are due to face Espanyol in Barcelona.
