Levante players call off strike

MADRID: Players at struggling Spanish First Division side Levante have called off their threat to strike during today’s match at Recreativo Huelva after the cash-strapped club found a way to pay debts to the squad.

“We finally have a solution. I think it is good for everyone,” Levante captain Luis Rubiales told radio Cadena Ser in the early hours of yesterday.

The squad announced on April 17 that it would strike this weekend over unpaid wages and bonuses.

It had up until now rejected all offers to settle the debts that were made by the club.

Overall debts to the players total 18mil euros, local newspaper Levante EMV reported earlier this week. Some players are still owed bonuses from last season, it said.

Levante are at the bottom of the league and 15 points away from safety with just five games remaining.

If they did not take to the field against Recreativo, they would forfeit the game 3-0 and so be relegated. – AFP