LA Liga Back this Weekend After Strike Ends

LA Liga will finally get under way this weekend after intense negotiations led to an agreement.

A resolution was reached on Thursday afternoon by the Liga de Futbol Profesional (LFP) and Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE).

The AFE announced earlier this month that players from the top two divisions in Spain would go on strike for the first two rounds of the 2011-12 season unless an agreement with the LFP was reached.

The AFE wanted a guaranteed fund to protect players’ wages in the event of their clubs being declared insolvent and they claim clubs in Spain owe around $72 million in unpaid salaries to more than 200 players from the end of last season.

But, a statement on the AFE website confirmed the matter was now resolved.

”The committee of the AFE and LFP have reached an agreement that ensured, through various means, the salaries of footballers,” it read. ”After the meeting today between the AFE and the LFP, the strike scheduled for Friday August 26, Saturday August 27, Sunday August 28 and Monday August 29 is off.

”Here at the AFE, we thank for their understanding and patience all those who have been affected. Finally, and most importantly, we want to thank all the non-Spanish and Spanish players who play in our championship.

”We want to convey how proud we are of them all and the unprecedented unity and solidarity they have shown at a time when many of their colleagues were struggling.”

There was no coercion last week as negotiations failed ultimately leading to the scheduled opening round of Primera Division and Segunda Division fixtures being postponed at the weekend.

The first week’s fixtures are scheduled to be played on December 28, but this may procure another problem as players’ contracts ban them from playing during the festive period.