Lionel Messi and Xabi Alonso Support Potential La Liga Strike over TV Deal
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso both added their backing to the potential strike of La Liga players in light of the division's new TV revenue deal.
While the new setup is designed to help "lessen the financial dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spanish football," per Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC, the players' union (AFE) is reportedly "unhappy at not being involved in negotiations which led to the deal." The main annoyance stems from a lack of support for players in the new agreement.
This could lead to a strike during La Liga's penultimate round of games on May 17, something both Messi and Alonso are behind.
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Messi admitted the discussion has taken place and that both he and his colleagues are in support, per Corrigan: "That is something which AFE have said to us, they came here for a meeting with us. The players are with them in what they say."
Former Real Sociedad and Real Madrid star Alonso believes the new deal offers some encouraging steps, but players are lacking protection, per Corrigan: "There are positive things in the new agreement for the clubs, but from the footballer's point of view it is not good. So we support the complaints from AFE. Some of the measures in there are not so good. It is not a bad agreement, but it could have been better."
Points of contention reportedly involve players failing to receive any money from the new deal, per Juan Jimenez of AS (h/t Corrigan).
By comparison, Premier League stars receive 1.5 percent of the division's television rights earnings, as reported by AS (h/t Corrigan). As the stars of the show, it seems only fair that La Liga's players receive some sort of reward for their work.
Spanish authorities also continue to carry out a strenuous examination of players' earnings in a bid to halt tax evasion. Messi and his father are battling against claims they defrauded authorities of over €4 million (£3.1 million) between 2007-09, as reported by BBC News.
Gerard Pique, his Barca team-mate, has also been involved in a similar investigation, as reported by La Vanguardia (h/t Liam Corless of the Mirror).
El Pais (h/t Corrigan) suggests players are "unhappy" with this invasive treatment, which can be considered a "response to Spain's continuing economic woes."
While redistributing wealth in the Spanish top flight is a positive step, the new laws need to look after clubs and the players within them. Barca and Real remain juggernauts of the footballing world and are far more capable of sustaining top-two success than any other clubs in the division.
Allowing the likes of Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Sevilla a greater opportunity to earn via television appearances may help to close the gap a little (or at least, it won't make the chasm unnecessarily larger).
However, the lack of players' input will leave many feeling like pawns lining the pockets of others. They've not had a say but are expected to proceed with providing entertainment anyway.
Messi and Alonso offer two influential voices. A disruption to La Liga's season would cause a major disturbance to many broadcast companies across the globe. It would also confirm the AFE wants to be involved in an extremely important agreement for La Liga's future.
