Spanish footballers extend strike

Spanish league footballers will extend their strike over pay to the second day of the new season next weekend, the players' professional association said on Monday. "The strike will continue for the second day of the season," Luis Gil, spokesman for the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE), said after the latest negotiations at the AFE's headquarters. Spain's top football clubs had been meeting with players to prevent the strike spreading to a second match day in the lucrative Primera Liga. "The two sides remain very far from agreement but we are continuing to work" for a solution, Gil told reporters. The vice-president of the Professional Football League (LFP), Francisco Catalan, added: "I think that something positive can come from today's meeting," without giving details. Players in the first and second divisions -- including stars such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo -- went on strike on the first match day Saturday and delayed the season start for the first time in 27 years. The AFE is demanding a wage guarantee and that players be allowed to break their contracts if they are not paid for three consecutive months, a proposal rejected by the league. According to the AFE, 200 players in the top two divisions have not been fully paid by cash-strapped clubs, some in bankruptcy protection, and are owed a total of about 50 million euros ($72 million). It is not clear if the league will try to squeeze missed matches into an already packed schedule or just scrap them.