This article is contributed by Tarik Ajanović:
It seems that the NBA lockout in the USA could not be the only case of big leagues postponed due to the disputes over collective contracts. The Spanish La Liga as well as Segunda División could be postponed for two weeks after the Spanish Footballers Association (AFE) announced a strike yesterday.
This article is contributed by Tarik Ajanović:
It seems that the NBA lockout in the USA could not be the only case of big leagues postponed due to the disputes over collective contracts. The Spanish La Liga as well as Segunda División could be postponed for two weeks after the Spanish Footballers Association (AFE) announced a strike yesterday.
In the conference attended by around 100 high-profile footballers from Spain, Luis Rubiales, the president of AFE and a retired defender, was quick to claim that the AFE’s only wish was to introduce rules that protected players and their salaries and not ask for increased salaries but only the money that was already earned. All that will be guaranteed by the new collective contract they are proposing.
In their opinion, there are several solutions already present in England, France, Holland and Germany that could be used in Spain as well. They are demanding the money already earned and, as it was stated, the clubs from the first two divisions owe around €50 million to players in wages. The players also want more protection in the case of club bankruptcies – if the club fails to pay three monthly salaries the player should have an option of breaking his contract with the club. They are also calling for a preventive fund that would pay the wages in such cases.
It should be noted that La Liga was close to a strike in March as well, but that time the clubs were the ones to threaten with it after a disagreement over TV rights. However, the Madrid court ruled against it and the season was finished as planned.
Italian players gathered around AIC (Italian Players’ Association) could also pursue similar measures since they also announced a strike from the 27th of August if their collective contract proposals are not met.
The start of the new season in Spain was scheduled for the 20th of August but it the matter is not resolved it could start on the 10th of September. Since the AFA representatives claimed that they are open for negotiations, hopefully the issue will be resolved before the planned start date for the new season.