Zero unpaid wage complaints as La Liga cleans up its act
The league has not receieved an unpaid wage complaint this season and none since December 2015.
Efforts to financially shore up Spanish soccer clubs were hailed by La Liga's organising body on Friday with the announcement that no player in Spain's top two divisions had complained of not receiving their wages in the last year.
Players reporting non-payment to the player's association, the AFE, has been a common occurrence in Spanish soccer in recent years as clubs struggled to cope with the fallout from the country's deep economic crisis.
Steadily improving
Complaints peaked in the 2014/15 season, with 60 players reporting unpaid wages totalling over 7 million euros, although that number fell to six players in 2015/16 and a combined 493,954 euros.
There have been no complaints for this season and none since December 2015.
The league said the move towards a centralised distribution of revenue from television rights in 2015, instigated by president Javier Tebas, was one of the main factors behind the reduction as it increased clubs' revenue.
Rules on budget sustainability, which punish teams for exceeding wage limits established at the start of each season, were also hailed as a contributing factor.
A historical objective
"La Liga has fulfilled one of its historical objectives in financial management," said a statement from the organising body on Friday.
"Without a doubt this is an historic reduction achieved thanks to the commitment of the clubs in La Liga Santander and La Liga 1123 (Spain's second tier) in applying the economic control imposed by the governing body."