Judge rules proposed Spanish football strike illegal

The strike called by the players' union (AFE) and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) which had threatened to cause chaos in the Spanish game and bring the season to a premature end will not happen after a judge in the Spanish National Court accepted the case presented by the Spanish Football League (LFP) that the strike was illegal.

The decision was made by the judge after both the AFE and LFP presented their cases on Wednesday and on hearing the decision the RFEF also called off their strike.

LFP President Javier Tebas was pleased with the result, which means the last two rounds of matches scheduled for this coming Sunday and the following Saturday will now take place.

"Justice has been done," said Tebas, who celebrated the fact that the Royal Decree, which allows for the collective sale of TV rights and which has been the cause of the strike threat, had been passed by the Spanish Congress this Thursday.

"Today is a historic day as the Decree has been approved," he said, although he admitted "relations between institutions have to improve."

AFE President, Luis Rubiales had few options other than to accept the decision "we work within the sphere of legality," he said, admitting his surprise that a judge had ruled against the right to strike.

"The problems remain the same," said Rubiales, whose union wants the Decree to include issues such as a guaranteed minimum wage for players, a percentage of the TV income to help look after former footballers and a fairer distribution of money between the Primera Liga and lower categories of the Spanish game. Endite