(AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

No strike in Spanish football for now

By JORGE SAINZ,

MADRID (AP) The Spanish football league has backed down from a threat to go on strike over a bill that would eliminate a tax break for high-earning foreign players.

League president Jose Luis Astiazaran said Friday that a committee will be formed instead to negotiate with the government over the proposal, part of the draft budget for 2010. If the bill passes it would not be retroactive and would not affect high-earning players already in the league, such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka. It would only apply to those signed after Jan. 1.

Astiazaran spoke after an emergency meeting of the presidents of most of Spain's first- and second-division clubs on the so-called Beckham Law.

Astiazaran said the league would discuss the bill with the government and parliament and meet again Nov. 19 when"we will see the results and decide what measures to adopt."

The tax break was introduced in 2004 and was to designed to attract top talent to Spain, including business executives and scientists, but football players have been among the most prominent beneficiaries. It was passed the year that David Beckham signed for Real Madrid.

As the law stands now, foreign residents who earn more than 600,000 ($880,000) pay a tax rate of 24 percent whereas Spaniards earning that much pay a rate of 43 percent, the highest in the Spanish tax code.

The proposal announced this week would eliminate that disparity. Parliament is scheduled to vote on the budget by the end of the year.

When the tax proposal was announced Tuesday, Astiazaran told The AP, "we do not rule out halting league play."

The league argues that eliminating the tax break would hurt Spain's ability to compete for top-flight players. If that were to happen, the league says stadium attendance, television ratings and revenue would also fall.

With the law as it is, "the league is better, the television value rises, fans go out to the stadium and this is a dynamic that generates wealth," Astiazaran said.

Updated November 6, 2009