La Liga start stays in limbo

The start of the La Liga season remains clouded by uncertainty after the latest round of talks to end a players’ strike failed on Tuesday.

A six-hour meeting between the Spanish League (LFP) and

Association of Spanish Football Players (AFE) failed to put an end to a salary

dispute.

La Liga players opted to strike for the first time in 27

years last week, demanding the payment of US$72 million owed in unpaid salaries

to over 200 footballers, along with improved salary guarantees.

The decision saw the opening round of La Liga postponed, and

this weekend’s second-round fixtures remain in doubt.

Speaking after the meeting, LFP president Jose Luis

Astiazaran said the parties were working toward ending the deadlock.

“We’ve tried to find some common ground and different

alternatives to the approach made by the syndicate and us,” Astiazaran

said.

“We will continue to work internally tonight and

tomorrow we will meet in the morning to exchange different documents to try to

find closer ground. Tomorrow in the afternoon we will meet at the LFP to

continue with our work.”

Luis Gil, representing the AFE, provided a bleaker outlook,

claiming the sides were no closer to striking a deal.

“There’s still a great distance for us to cover,”

Gil said.

“We’ve met to discuss one of our proposals so the LFP

will study it as we will study some of their ideas.”

“Six hours lets you cover a lot of ground but as of now

we are very far off and not a lot has changed.”

Deliberations will continue when both sides meet again

Wednesday.