Spanish women’s soccer league
The Primera División Femenina de España, or Liga F for short, has been played since the 1988–1989 season.
Barcelona is the big dominant in the league. The Catalan club are both reigning champions and most champions (eight titles).
16 clubs play in the league.
There are several Swedish players in the league. Including Fridolina Rolfö (Barcelona), Emma Holmgren (Levante UD) and Hanna Lundkvist (Atlético de Madrid).
The first match of the 2023-2024 season was scheduled for Friday when Sevilla faced Tenerife.
Spanish women’s football has never been better in sporting terms. In June, Barcelona won another Champions League title. In August, the Spanish national team won the WC for the first time.
All peace and joy in the storied soccer nation? Not at all.
The aftermath of the historic World Cup gold has mostly been about the president of the Spanish Football Association, Luis Rubiales, who after the World Cup final kissed the player Jennifer Hermoso on the mouth without her consent.
Rubiales is now suspended by Fifa for 90 days and reported for sexual abuse. In addition, national team captain Jorge Vilda, who was stormed around before the World Cup with stars boycotting the national team, has resigned from his post.
Affects the first rounds
On Friday, the plan was for the domestic league, Liga F, to start but then players will go on strike. The players’ union AFE has said in a statement that it will strike for fairer conditions and for the gap to the men’s players in La Liga to be reduced.
For men, the minimum salary is 182,000 euros a year (2.15 million kroner) and for women 16,000 euros (190,000 kroner). The strike is expected to affect the first two rounds, September 8–10 and September 15–17.
There has been hope of reaching a solution before the premiere but now time is running out. During Monday and Tuesday, the league and the players’ union met to discuss – but without any success.
Second year in a row
Tuesday’s meeting lasted almost three hours and brought both parties closer to each other, reports the Spanish newspaper March. But they still failed to reach an agreement and another meeting was scheduled for Wednesday.
Nor did Wednesday’s meeting lead to the parties being able to come to an agreement. According to March separated it by 3,000 euros in the latest proposal whereupon another meeting was scheduled for Tuesday next week.
This means that the first round, if nothing drastic happens, will not be played as previously planned.
The fact that there is a strike in Spanish football is not a new phenomenon. Also last year, the premiere was canceled due to a strike. Then it was the judges who went on strike to get more fair wages.