Problems facing Spanish top flight football - La Liga Special (Part 2)
Spanish top flight clubs are facing severe problems in the 2011/12 season. Financial troubles of these clubs are well documented as television revenues are shared in a bizarre manner. With Barcelona and Real Madrid taking majority of the proceeds, most of
the participating teams – 18- are left to fight it out for the leftover funds.
This is not the only problem that the clubs have to face; they are beset by more pressing concerns.
At the end of last La Liga campaign, the players went on a strike over unpaid dues. Over 200 players were not paid for their services by their respective clubs. It was estimated that around 50 million Euros are owed to the athletes. The issue was highlighted
by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Royston-Drenthe-c31824 who was on loan at Hercules CF from Real Madrid. Drenthe went on a one-man strike after the Christmas holidays and received the wrath of the club, fans and media alike.
The strike was called off after Liga http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nacional-c39984 de Fútbol Profesional (LFP) came to an understanding with Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE). One match day was cancelled due to the ongoing strike and action only began as the second match day approached.
It is understood that clubs that fail to make timely payments will go into administration and would not be allowed to take part in the league anymore.
Such a resolution could not be timed any worse. Clubs are severely hit by the recession and being outlawed from the competition will mean that all the income sources will be cut. Financing is already scarce for the lesser known footballing entities of La
Liga and this will only add to their woes. The only option left is that of selling players. But how long would that model sustain? One begs to ask.
This has left backroom officials of clubs in frenzy over their next moves. The situation does not improve with a great number of La Liga clubs failing to entice sponsors to their doors. From La Liga luminaries Atletico Madrid, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863 and Villarreal to
Real Zaragoza, Osasuna and Rayo Vallecano are all without kit sponsorships.
In addition to the financial problems, the strike has setback the league schedule and the management is desperate to bring it back on track with the calendar. This gets worse for clubs participating in European competitions as they will have to play as many
as seven games in a 22-day period. While it’s a blessing in disguise for Sevilla who crashed out of Europa League, the likes of Villarreal and Atletico Madrid will be facing the wrong side of the stick.
La Liga will resume its proceedings over the weekend after the international break and this will be a sigh of relief for the fans. However, the future looks bleak for majority of the clubs; they either face financial problems or are already under administration.
Clubs will have to cut their spending short and bring their budgets under control in the future.
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