Strike threat looms over La Liga

Barcelona trained as normal on Tuesday but are still in the dark as to whether their La Liga match at Villarreal on Sunday will go ahead.

A strike is planned for this weekend’s fixtures as part of a protest against a government law from 1997 which requires one La Liga game a week be shown on free-to-air public television.

Spain’s professional soccer league, LFP, have threatened to suspend the 30th round of matches this weekend in an attempt to force the government to scrap the rule.

With talks at a standstill, six clubs known as the G-6 and including heavyweights Sevilla and Villarreal, have broken ranks and filed a legal challenge to try to have the move to strike declared void.

They believe a strike would be ?disproportionate, inopportune, against the interest of clubs, the competition and supporters and against the law?.

A judge will hand down a decision on their move to prevent the strike on Wednesday.

The LFP argue that removing the obligation to show one match each week for free will strengthen clubs’ bargaining power in negotiations with media firms over broadcast rights.

It also wants guarantees about how much money clubs are entitled to receive from betting and lottery revenue.