Spanish footballers will find out Thursday whether they can legally push ahead with a strike which threatens to shut down the country’s top league at the weekend.
Prolonging to the last minute fans’ tense wait to know the fate of key end-of-season matches in their beloved Liga, a court said Wednesday it would take another day to rule on the strike.
After hearing arguments by lawyers for the AFE players’ union and the league, the National Court said it will decide on Thursday whether to order the strike to be suspended while a solution is sought.
The league, which controls the top two divisions including the superstar Primera division, says a stoppage could cost it 50 million euros ($56 million) per match day in lost revenues.
The AFE has joined the RFEF federation, which controls top-league referees as well as lower-league clubs, in threatening a stoppage.
Backed by top players such as Iker Casillas of Real Madrid and Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta, they are demanding that a bigger share of broadcast revenue be channelled to smaller clubs.
If the stoppage goes ahead it will halt the clash between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona on Sunday which could seal the championship for Barca.
It could also disrupt the last league matches on May 23 and the Spanish cup final on May 30 between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao.
– ‘Political motives’ –
In Wednesday’s hearing, lawyers for the two sides argued over whether the players had the right to go on strike against a new law that redistributes broadcast revenues from the lucrative Liga.
The league’s lawyer Javier Suarez asked the court to forbid the strike because the economic damage “would be impossible to repair”.
He alleged “political” motives behind the strike.
The union challenged that claim and said the potential losses were not grounds to suspend the strike as they were not “irreversible”.
Observers say the dispute is part of a long feud between league chairman Javier Tebas and the head of the federation Angel Maria Villar, a FIFA vice-president.
The head of the AFE Luis Rubiales said after Wednesday’s hearing that he was confident the court would not block the strike.
“I am convinced this strike is legal,” he told reporters outside the court.
“Our lawyer dismantled one by one all the points raised by the other party.”
Tebas retorted: “I have always said the strike is illegal. Now it is up to the court to decide.”
The players’ union and federation want the law on television rights to be amended. The government and league have refused to do that but offered to negotiate separately on better conditions for players.
Rubiales said the union was “reaching out to meet with anyone we need to in order to resolve a serious problem”.