Quandary over LaLiga players with contracts coming to an end
Madrid, Mar 21 (efe-epa).- The suspension of Spanish soccer competitions due to the coronavirus pandemic has put organizers in a quandary over what to do with players’ contracts that expire on 30 June in case the season is not over by then.
But the uncertainty created by Covid-19 makes it impossible to foresee the next move.
LaLiga chairman Javier Tebas told the Cuatro TV channel on Monday that he is “convinced that it will end.”
Sources within the Association of Spanish Footballers insist that “everything is conditioned by the declaration of the state of alarm”.
“Sports contracts are of a fixed duration. It will have to be seen if these contracts will have to be extended and that affects, at the same time, the license, because the professionals are bound by the license, that’s where FIFA, UEFA and the Federation come in,” the legal manager of AFE, Maria Jose Lopez, told Efe.
LaLiga’s Espanyol and Granada have been following the situation closely to see whether the season will be extended beyond 30 June.
By then, contracts of 11 Espanyol players would expire.
The same number of Granada players would see the end of their contracts at the end of June, seven of them are on loan.
ATLETICO MADRID
Second-choice goalkeeper Antonio Adán is the only Atletico Madrid player whose long-term contract expires in the summer.
In the light of a great performance, Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak has forced the Spaniard to settle for a secondary role.
Belgium Yannick Carrasco plays at the Wanda Metropolitano on loan until June.
BARCELONA
No Barcelona player will end his contract this summer, beyond giving Turkey’s Arda Turan an administrative discharge, due to the amortization of his five-year contract struck in 2015.
Barcelona, however, reportedly seeks to sell Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic whose contract expires in 2021.
Chile’s Arturo Vidal also has been reportedly linked with a move outside the Camp Nou as his contract with Barcelona ends next summer.
Media reports have reported several options the Spanish club is considering to address the economic burden players’ wages represent in the current situation.
The club has been reportedly planning to implement temporary layoffs for first-team players amid the current situation.
