La Liga Strike!

Spanish La Liga and a possible a strike

Is there a possible strike looming ahead for La Liga?

For now a court in Madrid says no, but there could be in the future.

David Beckham has law named after
him in Spain. The law was introduced in
2005 to attract foreigners to live and work
in Spain.

Several Spanish clubs that were looking to maximize benefits from TV revenues proposed the strike.  There is also a huge advantage for La Liga clubs in comparison to their rivals in other European countries. Foreigners who live and work in Spain are only forced to pay a twenty four percent income tax while natives are stuck with a hefty forty three percent income tax.

This law was introduced in Spain as the David Beckham Law and was designed to help attract foreign executives to better run some of the countries top business firms.

With the tax law as is, Spanish clubs can save up to £2 per year when compared to their English counterparts. Chelsea FC heavily considered signing Atletico Madrid’s Sergio Aguero, but they were turned away when they learned the true cost of what his wages would be in England. Aguero’s weekly wages in England would have been £200,000, but due to the taxing laws in Spain he only costs Atletico Madrid £160,000 per week.

The English tax for high earners is also set to have a possible increase, sometime this April, to fifty percent.

Chelsea had plans to spend big money
on Sergio Aguero but how much is to much
for the football giants?

The possible reformation of the tax law has many big club presidents worried. The reformation of the tax laws could cost nearly €100 million for the league as whole. Real Madrid would undertake a £2 Million per year fee for taxes on Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract.

Many are also worried there will be other complications that stem from the clubs having to accept these massive tax fees.

'This could bring very negative consequences. It would prevent La Liga from being the best of the world and would have negative impact on other aspects, such as the amount of people in stadiums and it would make our product less attractive to television. We have calculated that this reform would add 100m euros to the bill for Spanish football.' – LFP President Jose Luis Astiazaran

There are many others who support Astiazaran, claiming that the tax break for foreigners is what gives La Liga its competitive advantage over all football leagues in Europe.

"The strike would have been a stab in the heart of football, Football only sells hope and, if we kill people's illusions, we will kill football. There are no winners or losers. The big winner is football.” – Villarreal General Manager, Jose Manuel Llaneza

Cristiano and co. have some work to do if they
plan on catching current La Liga leaders Barcelona

Atletico Madrid president, Enrique Cerezo added - "I sensed that the games were going to be played. Imagine what would have happened. Luckily, everything has been solved.

"The court decides the official calendar for the first and second divisions should remain unaltered for the next round of matches." – Madrid Court Document

For now the courts have decided the league schedule will be played as arranged and nothing will change. The hope is that La Liga will solve their problems without any disruptions and their clubs will continue competing at the highest levels of world football.