Decision Favoring Relegation-Related Salary Reductions Could Impact Negotiations

A Spanish judge "delivered a verdict that could provoke a complete modification to the current relationship between clubs and footballers" on March 7, according to Ramón Fuentes of MARCA. Magistrate Verónica Ollé Sesé ruled in favor of Spanish club Nástic on the reduction of the salaries of former players Roberto Peragón and Rodrigo Gemeno following the club's relegation in '12. The ruling has caused the Spanish Football League (LFP) to propose this possibility to the Spanish Footballers Association (AFE) in the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement. Employers, protected in this case, "want to establish in both divisions the possibility of salary reductions in the case of relegation." The AFE believes that if clubs can be compared to other businesses and lower salaries when they want, then players, like any other workers, should be able to give 15 days of notice and then be free to leave (MARCA, 6/30).