Rob Horgan
SPAIN’S 42 professional football clubs have put strike plans on hold and will give the government more time to push through a law mandating collective bargaining for TV rights.
Real Madrid and Barcelona currently command €650 million in TV rights, which equates to almost half of the entire league’s TV money.
Club officials meeting in Barcelona have now given the government 12 more days to make progress on the law, according to LFP president Javier Tebas.
“There needs to be a (law) that regulates the sale of television rights,” Tebas said.
“Without it, the reality is that Spanish football will drop to fifth or sixth in the European ranking.”
Clubs outside the top two are hopeful a collective deal can be brokered to share the cash more equally.
La Liga is the only top European league in which clubs negotiate their own TV contracts.
