Spanish court set to rule on league strike

A Spanish court is set to rule on Thursday if footballers can legally go ahead with a strike against a new TV rights law which threatens to shut down the country's top league at the weekend.

The AFE players' union announced last week that footballers would go on strike indefinitely from Saturday and the league, which controls clubs in the top two divisions, filed a petition to have the action declared illegal.

The RFEF federation, which controls top-league referees as well as lower-league clubs, had earlier decided to halt all competition from the same date.

Backed by top players such as Iker Casillas of Real Madrid and Barcelona's Andres Iniesta, they are demanding that a bigger share of broadcast revenue be channelled to smaller clubs.

After hearing arguments by lawyers for the AFE players' union and the league on Wednesday, the National Court said it would decide on Thursday whether to order the strike to be suspended while a solution is sought.

If the stoppage goes ahead it will halt the clash between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona on Sunday which could seal the championship for Barca.

It could also disrupt the last league matches on May 23 and the Spanish cup final on May 30 between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao.

The league says a stoppage could cost it 50 million euros ($56 million) per match day in lost revenues.

In Wednesday's hearing, lawyers for the two sides argued over whether the players had the right to go on strike against a new law that redistributes broadcast revenues from the lucrative Liga.

The league's lawyer Javier Suarez asked the court to forbid the strike because the economic damage "would be impossible to repair".

He alleged "political" motives behind the strike.

The union challenged that claim and said the potential losses were not grounds to suspend the strike as they were not "irreversible".

Observers say the dispute is part of a long feud between league chairman Javier Tebas and the head of the federation Angel Maria Villar, a FIFA vice-president.

The players' union and federation want the law on television rights to be amended. The government and the league have refused to do that but offered to negotiate separately on better conditions for players.
Source: AFP