Talks fail to halt Spanish players' strike

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Talks between the Spanish football league (LFP) and the Spanish players' union (AFE) on Wednesday failed to avert the strike action called for this weekend.

"We haven't reached any kind of agreement," LFP president Jose Luis Astiazaran told reporters after the first meeting between the two sides since the strike was invoked last week.

"The AFE have dug their heels in. There are important differences but we will have to continue moving forward."

The AFE have called strike action for the first two weekends of Spain's top two divisions, which are scheduled to kick off on Saturday, demanding greater protection for players' wages at clubs who have gone into financial administration.

Astiazaran continued: "We are in agreement on 80 percent of the questions and it's a shame that for 20 percent we have found ourselves in this situation.

"We have achieved much recently... however, it is impossible for the first round of matches not to be affected by the strike."

Representing the AFE, Luis Gil said: "We will continue working this afternoon and tomorrow and we will meet again on Friday.

"The league doesn't want to bridge the gap. The biggest problem is that the players want guarantees they are going to get paid because there are more than 200 who are owed money.

"At present the AFE are not considering extending the strike action beyond the second round of matches. We want the law applied that clubs who do not pay should be relegated."