Spanish La Liga strike talks begin….

Lionel Messi in action for Barcelona

Spanish officials and members of the players union are holding crisis talks to try and prevent a proposed strike from May 16 that threatens the final two rounds of La Liga fixtures as well as the Copa Del Rey final. Barcelona face Atletic Bilbao in the Cup final and are currently only one game from regaining the league title and the Catalan side could win the title on Sunday if the game is given the go-ahead and they beat Atletico Madrid. The strike was initially called by both the Spanish federation and the players union as they disagreed with the government’s proposed new law regarding the collective bargaining for TV rights, with major clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona receiving most of the money. According to reports in the Spanish media discussions between legal representations from the federation, the league, and the union were taking place in the capital on Wedenesday evening putting to discuss the legality of the proposed strike. The league, which controls the top two divisions including the superstar Primera division, says a stoppage could cost it 50 million euros per match day in lost revenues. However, the union insisted they wouldn’t change their mind believing potential losses could be reversed. Ultimately the court will make a final decision and if it declares it has legal jurisdiction to rule in this case, it could abandon the strike declaring it as illegal allowing the parties to negotiate their differences.

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