Emergency meeting averts soccer strike

A second Liga strike in the space of a year was averted on Tuesday following an extraordinary meeting between the Professional Football League (LFP) and first and second division clubs in Madrid. The start of the competition had been threatened by demands from 13 Primera División clubs relating to unpaid television revenues and kick-off times, which this weekend will force Mallorca and Espanyol on Saturday, Levante and Atlético on Sunday, and Zaragoza and Valladolid on Monday night to take to the field at the unusually late hour of 11pm.

"This weekend there will be soccer," said LFP president José Luis Astiazarán. "We have put the questions we have pending on the table and we have analyzed matters of the league itself, its governance and television broadcasts. This weekend's games will start at the scheduled time."

The meeting was attended by Secretary of State for Sport Miguel Cardenal, who acted as mediator between the LFP and the clubs. However, the group of 13 clubs - Athletic Bilbao, Atlético Madrid, Betis, Celta Vigo, Espanyol, Getafe, Granada, Mallorca, Osasuna, Rayo Vallecano, Real Sociedad, Sevilla and Real Zaragoza - remained frustrated in its battle to solve the issue of television rights ownership, which it says has left them in a "situation of serious legal insecurity."

The two broadcasters at the center of the dispute, Mediapro and Canal +, are locked in a fight to gain control of the rights to show matches. Last season, Mediapro controlled the rights of a majority of Liga clubs, which ensured that the status quo of splitting the revenue pot remained intact. It is a well-worn complaint in the Spanish game and an arrangement that a majority of clubs wish to see revoked; under the current model, Real Madrid and Barcelona each receive about 140 million euros a season from the current deal, with Atlético third on 47 million. Sevilla receives 32 million and smaller clubs, such as Rayo, just 14 million.

We are 13 united teams and we have to continue until we achieve our goals"

Spain's is the only league in Europe to operate in this way; the Premier League, the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 all have collective agreements that ensure a more equitable split.

"The way soccer is organized in Germany would be an ideal formula to apply in Spain," said Betis president Miguel Guillén. "Both in the equitable distribution of rights and in terms of treating the fans with maximum respect."

As well as railing against the disparity in television revenue, many Liga clubs feel the scheduling for matches favors certain clubs at the expense of others. Certainly, it was rare last season to see Real or Barcelona dumped into the much-maligned 12pm Sunday slot, or being asked to play on Monday night.

"We are 13 united teams and we have to continue until we achieve our goals and to win the battle for the good of our own interests and those of La Liga," said Atlético president Enrique Cerezo after the meeting. Last season, Cerezo made it quite plain to the LFP that Atlético would refuse to play another Monday night fixture having been scheduled there twice in a row.

Although many issues remain unresolved, there was general positivity after the meeting. "It was an extremely important step forward that the secretary of state was made perfectly aware of the issues to be addressed," said Guillén.

Perhaps inspired by one of the most-celebrated unlikely Hollywood endings, Cerezo added: "It's the beginning of a good friendship with the LFP."

Florentino Pérez, the Real Madrid president, and his Barcelona counterpart, Sandro Rosell, declined to comment after the meeting.