US plan: stars set to strike

– The union of Spanish footballers (AFE) is unanimously opposed to La Liga’s plan to play regular season games in the United States and will not rule out going on strike to protest against the proposals, it said this week.

La Liga’s organising body announced last week that it plans to hold Spanish top-flight games in the US in the future.

La Liga has not given details on when the first match will take place, how many games per season would be involved, how they would be selected or whether it would compensate the loss of home advantage for the teams.

Captains and vice-captains representing the 20 clubs in the league, including Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets and Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos, attended a meeting in Madrid called by AFE President David Aganzo.

“The captains are surprised and angry that such an important decision was taken without being consulted. The players are unanimously against this, no-one is in favour of it,” Aganzo told a news conference.

A La Liga spokesman said they “will meet with AFE to discuss the plans”. – Reuters

Madrid