Spain & Italy strike disputes threaten to throw football spinning into chaos

Footballers going on strike in Spain and Italy may be an astonishing development for fans who associate the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Alexandre Pato and Javier Zanetti with Hollywood lifestyles and banker-type bonuses.

But the disputes which prevent La Liga kicking off this weekend and may halt Serie A’s resumption next week concern an issue endangering the professional game far beyond southern Europe: the failure of too many clubs – usually, but not only - lower down the league ladders, to pay their players.

Laws governing contracts of employment in any industry – whether football or fisheries – are important strands in the framework of society.

The headline issue here concerns the irresponsibility of too many clubs and owners in living beyond their means. Beyond that is a further, even more sinister, danger: unpaid players are vulnerable to underworld fixers corrupting the game on behalf of internet-empowered betting syndicates.

As Fifa has discovered belatedly, fixing is widespread. This has corroded the credibility of domestic competition not only in south-east Asia and Africa but in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Greece and Turkey, to name but a handful of infected European countries.

Back to the strikes.

The principal point at issue in Spain concerns the operation of a salary guarantee fund which provides a theoretical safety net for players left high and dry by indebted clubs.

According to the Liga de Futbol Profesional the fund is struggling already to cope with the number of collapsing clubs while the Asociación de Futbolistas Españoles (AFE) wants action to reduce a €50 million wages debt mountain.