La Liga season faces delay threat

The Spanish professional footballers' union are threatening to force a delay to the start of the new season if an agreement cannot be reached over a wage guarantee fund.

Luis Manuel Rubiales, the president of the AFE union, is currently in dispute with the Liga de Futbol Profesional (LFP) over a fund to protect players' wages in the event of their clubs being declared insolvent.
Rubiales has pinpointed next Monday as the date for a "minimum agreement" to be reached and insisted in an interview with the 'Al Primer Toque' programme on Radio Marca that the season cannot begin without consensus on this matter.
He said: "La Liga has to start when the problems are truly resolved with a will that we do not see from the LFP at the moment.
"We are very disappointed. We do not see how a league that is growing in income by eight to 10 per cent each year has a fund that has more restrictions on it than in earlier agreements, and that may not be approved (by the AFE).
"This is a roadblock, a severe interference standing in the way of a collective agreement. If we are talking but you are not listening to what we say, I don't know that these meetings have any value.
"We have challenged both institutions to reach a minimum agreement by August 8. That same day I have convened a special board meeting to see if there is an agreement and dialogue based on the commitments we have made with the players of Spain."