Spanish Court Upholds Players' Right to Protest Over Proposed U.S. Game

In a landmark ruling, Spain's National Court has rejected La Liga's attempt to declare a 15-second player protest as illegal, instead affirming it as a legitimate exercise of freedom of expression. The dispute centered on players' opposition to La Liga's controversial plans to stage a regular-season match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami, Florida.

The Protest and Its Aftermath

During games played over October 17-20, La Liga sides did not start play for the opening 15 seconds of matches. The Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE) players' union had announced ahead of that round of fixtures that members were "unhappy with La Liga's proposal to stage Villarreal's home match against Barcelona, scheduled for December 20, in Miami, Florida."

Two days after the players' protest, the Miami proposal was postponed, with promoters Relevent stating there was "insufficient time" to organize the event. The fixture was ultimately played as scheduled in Spain.

Court's Reasoning and Ruling

In its Tuesday ruling, the National Court declared that the protest "did not constitute a strike" and was instead an "exercise of their right to freedom of expression," which was in conjunction with the right to freedom of association.

The court judgment specifically noted: "This work stoppage, due to its short duration (10 seconds of a 90-minute period, excluding added time) and its negligible impact on the development of the fixtures, as all matches were played to completion without any incident beyond the action itself, cannot be classified or labeled a strike."

The court highlighted how the players' motivations were made clear by the AFE's statement in advance of the matches, describing it as a "symbolic protest against La Liga's lack of transparency, dialogue and consistency" over plans to stage a league match abroad.

Financial and Broadcast Implications

La Liga had argued that the players' actions constituted a strike, costing the league €8.7 million (£7.6m, $10.1m) across the round of fixtures. The court, however, declared that while the work stoppages took place during the footballers' working hours, in line with their collective bargaining agreement, the actions were of "no consequence" to the day's proceedings.

The ruling also addressed broadcast issues, noting that La Liga itself decided to downplay the motivations for the protests. Multiple Spanish broadcasts had attempted to frame the protests in the context of conflict in the Middle East, which included the league's 'commitment to peace' initiative.

The court revealed that La Liga had asked TV companies not to show the players on the pitch during the protests. During matches at Oviedo and Barcelona, TV cameras instead showed the exterior of the stadiums before returning to show the pitch when the 15-second protests concluded.

Legal Foundation and Reactions

After the ruling was confirmed, the AFE highlighted that the outcome was based on article 39 of the players' collective bargaining agreement, which states: "Professional footballers shall have the right to freely express their thoughts on any matter and, in particular, on matters related to their profession, with no limitations other than those derived from the law and respect for others."

La Liga responded to the decision by announcing it would file an appeal to Spain's Supreme Court to "ensure the adequate protection of the integrity of the competition and its audiovisual rights." The league stated: "La Liga wishes to emphasise that it respects the exercise of fundamental rights but reiterates that these must be exercised within a framework of proportionality and without disrupting the integrity of the competitions or the commitments made to broadcasters, clubs, and fans worldwide."

Broader Context

The court also rejected any assertion that Relevent's decision to cancel the Miami match could be solely attributed to the players' strike. This ruling comes as no regular-season league matches in European football have yet been moved abroad.

In October, UEFA had "regrettably" approved requests from La Liga and Italy's Serie A to stage matches abroad due to "regulatory gaps at global level." Similar plans by Serie A to play a fixture between Milan and Como in Perth, Australia were also abandoned in December.