Game over?

The first of the threat issued by Spain's soccer players has already been carried out: this weekend has seen no matches. It now remains to be seen whether the second half will be met: in other words, no matches next weekend either, in strict accordance with the strike call to boycott the first two weeks of matches in Spain's top two divisions due to the failure of a number of clubs to pay their players' wages. Talks continued over the weekend, but so far there is no sign of any agreement. Today, players' representatives will meet with officials from the LFP, the Spanish professional soccer league. What will happen if they fail to reach agreement once more? The short answer is that nobody knows.

The aim of a strike is simple: to put pressure on employers. But those carrying out industrial action are also obliged to come up with alternatives in the event that no agreement or settlement is reached, regardless of whether they are wholly in the right. If the strike continues next week, it will be as good as impossible to recover the two lost games before the first half of the season finishes.

So what is the alternative? To just plough on regardless, annulling the two lost games and accepting that they will never be played? That is one solution, but the problem there is that it is not a fair one: it is not the same thing to cancel a game against Barcelona or Madrid as it would be against a newly promoted side, for example. The other possibility is worse still: to maintain the strike indefinitely until the LFP backs down.

The problem is that it is highly unlikely that the LFP will do so. To begin with, it is not like any other employer; it is a consortium of entities, all with different legal and commercial statuses. The soccer players are saying that this consortium must take charge of the debts the clubs have accumulated with their players. But this means that sides that have been careful with their spending on signings will have to pay the debts of those that weren't. It would also, to a considerable degree, create an uneven playing field for many clubs.

The LFP has proposed the creation of a 10 million-euros-per-year fund to come into effect next year. But the players' union says that the LFP must take over the accumulated debt now, a figure that has already reached 50 million euros over the last two seasons. As with any labor dispute, the only way forward is to negotiate, and not on a zero-sum basis. Aside from anything else, there are a great many other interests at stake aside from those of the LFP and the players. There are the television stations for example, but let's not forget the travel companies, hotels, transport companies, and so on, all of whom are in a position to demand compensation for cancellations and lost revenue.

And that is without mentioning the fans, who at the end of the day are those who support what is billed by itself as the best league in the world.