07 May 2015
Spanish FA threatens government with La Liga shutdown over TV rights deal
BY Tom Walker
Real Federación Española de Fútbol, (RFEF, the Royal Spanish Football Federation) is threatening to suspend all football competitions in the country from 16 May, following the government introducing a new law to regulate the sale of television rights.
In a statement, RFEF said it strongly opposes the new law and as a result will suspend competitions of all categories “indefinitely”.
“While we have taken this action, we once more reiterate that we (RFEF) are open to dialogue with the Spanish government,” the statement continued.
A total of 17 regional federations would be affected by the suspension, including more than 600,000 players and 30,000 matches, the RFEF said.
The new TV deal signed into law by the government is seen as an attempt at distributing broadcasting revenues more equally. The two giants of the Spanish game, Barcelona and Real Madrid, currently have a stranglehold on TV income due to their popularity and success.
Under the new law, the tradition of clubs being allowed to negotiate their own TV deals would end. Instead, the rights would be auctioned just as they are for the English Premier League – currently the richest league in the world.
The suspension could affect the end to the La Liga season with the penultimate round of fixtures due to take place on May 17.
To read the full RFEF statement (in Spanish) click here.
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