The First Division players respond to LaLiga’s intention to take the Villarreal-Barcelona match on December 20 to Miami. The Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE) announced this Friday, two hours before the start of the ninth matchday, that the teams will protest at the beginning of each match “symbolically as a demand for the lack of transparency, dialogue and coherence” of the employers’ association. Unless there is a last-minute change, the first photo of this measure should take place in the Oviedo-Espanyol this Friday, which starts at 9:00 p.m. in El Tartiere. The union has asked the captains of Villarreal and Barcelona not to be part of the protest so that it is not seen as a pressure measure. The yellows face Betis this Saturday (6:30 p.m.) and the blaugranas face Girona two hours before (4:15 p.m.).
After an escalation of tension between AFE and the organization led by Javier Tebas, in the conversations of the last few hours between the union and the locker rooms it was agreed, at the proposal of the players, that the possibility of holding a sit-down protest be discussed as soon as the referee whistles the start of the match. Sources from one team assure that the break will be 15 seconds.
AFE has requested information from LaLiga that has not been provided to date. Last Tuesday a meeting was scheduled with the captains and Javier Tebas, president of the employers’ association, to discuss the matter. Tebas did not attend and proposed October 22, 23 and 24 as alternative dates, but the players refused as they coincided with European matches and with the run-up to the League match. LaLiga assured in a statement that the date of the 14th had not been agreed upon.
As this newspaper has learned, the footballers no longer only want the information they demanded, now they want to open a negotiation table in which to discuss whether it is necessary. Some captains claim that since Thursday they have received calls from LaLiga and they have been referred to David Aganzo, president of AFE.
