Players in Spain's top football teams, who include stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, stuck to a strike call in talks with clubs Wednesday, an official said.
"They said they were maintaining their strike call," said Jose Luis Aztiazaran, president of the Professional Football League (LFP), representing clubs in the top two divisions.
"We have agreed to carry on working this weekend," he said after the latest round of talks with the players' Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE), aimed at resolving the disagreement.
"We are going to meet on Friday to try to advance. If needed we will work through the weekend and next week to find points of dialogue, rapprochement," Aztiazaran said.
AFE chairman Luis Rubiales said last week that the players from Spain's top two divisions had decided to go on strike for the first two match days of the season, which starts on Saturday.
The AFE is in dispute with the LFP over unpaid salaries by some indebted clubs.
It is demanding a wage guarantee and that players be allowed to break their contracts if they are not paid for three consecutive months.
The AFE says 200 players in the top two divisions have not been fully paid by hard-pressed clubs, some of which are in bankruptcy protection. It says the total due is now about 50 million euros ($72 million).
Source: AFP
