Spanish court puts halt to La Liga strike plans

The National Court in Spain on Thursday suspended a planned footballers' striker saying it would 'prevent the conclusion of the championship' and 'cause a serious organisational disorder'.

Barcelona fans watch a La Liga match between Barcelona and and Rayo Vallecano in March. David Ramos / Getty Images / March 8, 2015

A Spanish court on Thursday suspended a planned strike by footballers in protest against a new TV rights law, which threatened to shut down La Liga at the weekend.

The National Court said in its ruling that allowing the strike to go ahead would “prevent the conclusion of the championship” and would “cause a serious organisational disorder”.

The AFE players’ union announced last week that footballers would go on strike indefinitely from Saturday and the league, which controls clubs in the top two divisions, filed a petition to have the action declared illegal.

The strike call threatened to halt the clash between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona on Sunday which could seal the championship for Barca.

It would also have disrupted the last league matches on May 23 and the Copa del Rey final on May 30 between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao.

The league had warned that a stoppage could cost it EU€50 million (Dh209.9m) per matchday in lost revenue.

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