La Liga strike lifted

Spanish football will go ahead this week after an agreement was reached to end the players’ strike that hit last weekend’s opening round.

The country’s professional football league (LFP) and players’ union (AFE) reached an agreement to end the impasse after a meeting – the seventh between the two parties – on Thursday.

This weekend’s games in La Liga and Segunda Division will go ahead as originally scheduled, with last week’s matches to be played at a later date, thought to be in May or June.

The AFE, who represent players from the top-two tiers of football in Spain, called the strike on August 11, after their demand that clubs pay its players any outstanding money.

The owed sum was later revealed to be around 50 million euros and affecting almost 200 players.

But a sixth meeting on Wednesday, lasting 12 hours, was significant and on Thursday, an understanding was reached.

Both parties will give a joint press conference in due course to explain details of the agreement, which sees Spanish football restarting on Friday, with Segunda Division outfits Girona and Elche to play the curtain-raiser.