Spain's league players to strike on first day of season

Players in Spain's top two divisions will strike on the first round of the season after last-ditch negotiations with clubs on wage guarantees collapsed, the league announced on Friday. "We put on the table today our positions, which are very far apart, and we are concentrating now on being able to save the second day," Professional Football League (LFP) chairman Jose Luis Astiazaran told a news conference. The LFP and the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE) are to meet again on Saturday and on Monday to try and reach an accord. The Spanish league had been scheduled to start this weekend. It will be the first time that the football season is postponed in 27 years. The Association of Spanish Footballers is demanding a wage guarantee and that players be allowed to break their contracts if they are not paid for three consecutive months, a proposal rejected by the league. It says 200 players in the top two divisions have not been fully paid by cash-strapped clubs, some of which are in bankruptcy protection, and are owed a total of about 50 million euros ($72 million). "It is clear that the first round will not be played. We are still stuck on the same point. We must find a way to get out of this situation," said Luis Gil, who represents the Association of Spanish Footballers.A strike would cause a major headache as the league tries to squeeze missed matches into an already packed schedule. Asked about the possibility of the league canceling the first round because of the strike instead of rescheduling the matches, Astiazaran said: "I prefer to not get involved in these sort of debates. "The priority is to overcome the conflict that exists between the league and players," he added. A growing number of Spanish clubs have slipped into financial difficulties recently. First division side Racing Santander went into bankruptcy protection in July with debts that included unpaid wages of 11.2 million euros, just months after they were bought by Bahrain-based Indian tycoon Ahsan Ali Syed. Real Zaragoza applied to go into administration last summer, and Rayo Vallecano, who were promoted to the first division last season, are also in a precarious financial position. The Professional Football League itself had planned to strike towards the end of last season over broadcast rights. But a judge barred the walkout, backing a suit filed by six first division clubs. The league was protesting a long-standing rule that one first division match per weekend is broadcast for free on television.