La Liga to be delayed unless agreement is made

Spain’s top soccer league ‘La Liga’ has become the latest major European league causing a stir. The Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE) has issued a warning over a wage guarantee fund.

This news follows in a week where ex-Roma and current Italian Players’ Association president Damiano Tommasi claimed the Italian Football League had yet to sign a new collective agreement, and now his Spanish counterpart Luis Manuel Rubiales has suggested the possibility that his members could delay the start of the new Spanish season.

Mr Rubiales is looking for the fund to protect players when clubs come under financial troubles and can not pay their employees.

La Liga club Racing Santander last month joined Real Mallorca, Real Zaragoza, Real Betis, Rayo Vallecano and Granada to seek protection from creditors.

“La Liga has to start when the problems are truly resolved with a will that we don’t see from the LFP at the moment,” Rubiales told Radio Marca. “We are very disappointed. We do not see how a league that is growing in income by eight to 10% each year has a fund that has more restrictions on it than in earlier agreements.”