The LFP's decision preventing La Liga side Getafe's Pedro León from playing this season has "once again ignited the conflict" between the LFP and the Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE), according to Juan Jiménez of AS. La Liga is "insisting that its economic regulations are non-negotiable," and it is "justifying this with numbers." Spanish football clubs' debt to Spanish tax authorities has dropped from €680M in June '13 to €430M ($557M). The LFP "is cleaning up its accounts," but on the other hand, "it is affecting footballers, who are complaining that they are the ones paying for clubs' debts." It is estimated that player salaries, which the AFE says represent 30% of club budgets, "have dropped 20%." Since the last collective bargaining agreement, the minimum salary for a La Liga player is €129,000 ($167,000), while the minimum in the second division is €64,500 ($83,500). The LFP proposed "dropping these minimums by more than 10% more," but the AFE "finally blocked that initiative." The AFE is "ready to go to war and insists that the economic control mechanisms are not legal, and the body has announced a lawsuit" against the LFP (AS, 9/7). Jiménez reported in a separate piece AFE Manager Luis Gil said, "We are complaining that the debt is being paid off by reducing player signings, which in reality represent only 30 percent of what clubs spend. We protest because limits are established on roster spending." The AFE "calculates that during the previous season, money spent on players increased only 4% from the previous year, while other spending jumped as much as 65%" (AS, 9/7).
