The CSD, Spain’s national sports council, has said the strike called by the RFEF is based on ‘false claims’ and ‘spurious interests.’
The RFEF on Wednesday evening called for all football in the country to be ‘indefinitely suspended’ from May 16 in protest at a number of issues laid out in a statement published on their website.
Secretary of State for Sport Miguel Cardenal, the Secretary of State for Sport and chairman of the CSD, pictured above, has described the proposed strike as ‘an insult to democracy’ while the CSD have released a response.
They point out that both the RFEF and the AFE, the players’ union, which has also mooted action, were in favour of the TV rights law, signed earlier this month.
“The CSD calls for analysis of the consequences [of the TV rights deal] and asks that fans, players and clubs aren’t confused with false claims that do nothing to hide spurious interests,” the statement says, according to Marca.
“The need for this reform was a unanimous demand of all sectors involved.
“It has taken over 20 years to get this historic agreement, required by the players through the AFE, the LFP and the RFEF, who sued the government for an urgent solution to negotiate television rights in a stable and transparent framework.
“The new agreement rebalances competition between clubs in the Primera, reducing the difference between clubs.
“In the case of the Segunda, the percentages currently received will double.
“A communique from the AFE on April 16 stated that ‘the players support, along with the LFP and the RFEF, the urgent regulation for the joint selling of rights to professional competitions.
“The CSD does not understand the change of attitude in the last hours of the RFEF and the AFE after the ‘urgent request’ on the part of those entities.
“The other reasons given by the RFEF are excuses to justify an ongoing fight, which is the sole interest of the RFEF to justify not returning public money and not be subject to audits required by law.”
