Photo: Ali Gilmore (Prost Amerika)
A dispute between the Spanish football federation (RFEF) and the Spanish Government is threatening to curtail the end of the La Liga season.
The dispute centres around television money. The existing agreement allows the two wealthiest clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, to negotiate their own TV deals. This allows them to claim nearly half the total amount of TV money and perpetuates their already large advantage, leaving the league noncompetitive and unattractive.
Although the Spanish government has approved a new law on collective bargaining for TV rights, it has not been passed yet.
The issue seemed to be set for agreement until the RFEF intervened in what seemed like a turf war.
Andy West writing for the BBC noted:
But now the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) have intervened because they are unhappy with some terms of the new deal and feel their authority is being undermined by not being involved enough in determining the finer points – they called it a “lack of respect” and claimed they were being “ignored”.
The organisation that runs the top two divisions National Professional Football League (LFP) supports the new law and is fighting the suspension. The the players’ association (AFE) however is not happy with the deal and had threatened strike action even before the suspension was announced. They want the second division clubs to be allocated more than is given in the proposed deal.
West concludes:
So it is essentially the government and the league against the players and the federation, making it much more difficult to find a quick solution.
The players seem to be with their union if tweets and public pronouncements are a guide which leads to the suspicion that the RFEF acted to prevent this becoming or turning into a purely union/employer conflict.
Still no-one is being publicly optimistic.
“There is such a long list of disputes that it may be impossible to sort it out,” Guillem Balague on Sky Sports.
“We still have some days. We meed to be sensible and cautious,” added the Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu
The conclusion of La Liga is under threat as is the Spanish Cup final between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, 30 May.
But there’s a bigger worry for fans of Spanish football. If there’s one thing FIFA really hates, it is government interference in the running of football. Although it was the RFEF that suspended the season, they are trying to insinuate that the Government is getting involved.
There is probably too much at stake for the dispute to not be resolved and with ho summer international tournaments, the pressure is lessened than if players were to be called to international squads in June. That is only solace for the European players though.
West adds:
The weekend of May 16/17 is under genuine threat, but beyond that there is still plenty of time to fit in two more midweek rounds of fixtures, if necessary, before the end of the European season on Saturday, 6 June, when the Champions League final takes place.
The league has to be finished before that date because it is immediately followed by the South American national team tournament, the Copa America in Chile, which will feature leading La Liga stars such as Messi, Neymar and James Rodriguez.
Barcelona lead La Liga rivals Real Madrid by two points, with only three games left to play.
