Real Madrid captains Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos supported the strike called by the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE) to boycott the last two dates of La Liga.
Casillas and Ramos represented Real players in a press conference that gathered all La Liga teams’ captains, showing the Los Blancos squad commitment with the protest.
Spanish footballers are protesting because the Government has not consulted them for writing the new law that regulates how football television rights are sold. They believe the distribution is not fair and are willing to stop all competitions until the Spanish Government sits to talk with them.
The president of AFE, Luis Rubiales, claimed “we believe what we are doing is right, because we are defending ourselves against a violation of our rights.” “We have been excluded from the negotiations,” he added.
AFE Vicepresident Vicente Blanco explained “they are eliminating footballers’ wages guarantees” and “not recognizing our trade union.”
Blanco criticized that the new law gives AFE only 0.5 % of the money from television rights, while in England and France its 1.5 and 1.09.
He also complained about the distribution of the money between the first and second division, as the second will only receive 10 % while AFE claims it should be an 80-20 share.
Casillas refused to talk to the press after the press conference, arguing “Rubiales has already explained everything.” Meanwhile, Ramos published a picture of the press conference in Twitter to show his support.
