Spain’s top-flight female players have agreed to strike for the opening two matchdays of Liga F over a long-running dispute on pay and employment rights.
Spain won the Women’s World Cup by beating England 1-0 on August 20 but there will likely now be no fixtures in the country’s female top flight until the weekend of September 30 at the earliest.
A plan to strike was announced on Friday last week. Players’ Union AFE said it came after “a year of negotiations” that left them “facing the impossibility of reaching an agreement with authorities”.
After meeting at the headquarters of the Interconfederal Service of Mediation and Arbitration (SIMA) for the second day in a row on Wednesday, the five unions that represent the players decided that the strike will go ahead.
The players were asking for an improvement on the existing minimum yearly wage of €16,000. They asked for a minimum salary of €25,000 this season, and for €30,000 next season.
Liga F proposed an increase to €18,000, with further gradual rises that would take that sum to €25,000 in three seasons. The offer also included benefits such as childcare assistance for players’ children during training, specific spaces for breastfeeding and bursaries for studies.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Liga F made…
