Court blocks La Liga strike
Reuters - Wednesday 30 March 2011, 10:54
MADRID - Spain's league programme will
go ahead this weekend after a Madrid court upheld a challenge
from six breakaway clubs and blocked threatened strike action by
the professional football league (LFP).
"The court decides the official calendar for the first and
second divisions should remain unaltered for the next round of
matches," a statement from the court said on Wednesday.
The LFP, which had also suffered the resignation of its
vice-president late on Tuesday, accepted the judge's ruling and
immediately issued the kick-off times for this weekend's matches.
"Despite the internal discrepancies at the heart of the LFP
over the measures adopted at the assembly on February 11, all
the clubs that make up the league continue to press their
demands on the government," the LFP said in a statement.
"From this point on, a new route map will be established
that will allow us to unblock the conversations in our search
for solutions to the grievances of professional football."
The managing director of Villarreal, one of the six "rebel"
clubs along with Sevilla, Real Sociedad, Espanyol, Athletic
Bilbao and Real Zaragoza, said he was relieved.
STAB IN THE HEART
"A strike would have been a stab in the heart for football,"
Jose Manuel Llaneza told Radio Marca.
The LFP had voted last month to suspend matchday 30 unless
the government scrapped a rule that one La Liga game per
matchday should be shown on freeview television.
Last week, as talks with the government failed to make much
progress, six clubs known as the G-6 broke ranks and mounted a
legal challenge to the LFP's decision.
The league argues that removing the obligation to show one
match for free would strengthen clubs' bargaining power in
negotiations on audiovisual rights with media firms.
The league also wants guarantees about how much cash clubs
are entitled to receive from betting and lottery revenue.
The breakaway clubs argued that a strike would be
"disproportionate, inopportune, against the interest of clubs,
the competition and supporters and, what's more, against the
law".
A postponement could have seen the end of La Liga pushed
back three weeks to the weekend of June 11/12 due to the hectic
competition schedule over April and May.
This weekend's matches include a visit to Villarreal for leaders Barcelona and second-placed Real Madrid hosting Sporting
Gijon, both on Saturday.
REACTION: Tim Stannard celebrates as Spanish football avoids killing itself