La Liga strike called off: Barcelona can now win title

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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel MessiImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Barcelona can win the league title with a game to spare if they beat champions Atletico Madrid on Sunday

The Spanish football season will be allowed to finish after the week-long Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) suspension and players' strike ended.

After Spain's High Court ruled the players' strike over a TV rights dispute was unlawful, the RFEF reversed a suspension of the end of the season.

Barcelona can win La Liga on Sunday, with a game to spare, if they beat current champions Atletico Madrid.

The Spanish Cup final will also go ahead as planned on 30 May.

Barca - who have also reached the Champions League final, in which they will take on Juventus - play Athletic Bilbao at the Nou Camp in the domestic Copa del Rey final.

Spanish football writer Andy West explains the dispute:

"Essentially, the suspension was the result of a power struggle over who runs Spanish football. More specifically, it is the climax of a long-running dispute over the distribution of television revenue, which is heavily weighted in favour of the 'Big Two' of Barcelona and Real Madrid." Read more here.

The RFEF and players' union (AFE) are not satisfied with a new law introducing collective bargaining for domestic television rights, supported by the National Professional Football League (LFP), which runs Spain's top two professional divisions.

The players who backed a proposed strike believe the split of money in a new deal proposed by the LFP and Spanish government does not do enough for those at lower-ranked clubs.

On Friday, LFP president Javier Tebas announced plans to take legal action against the suspension, warning it could cost 50 million euros (£36m) per matchday in lost revenues.

Key remaining fixtures

Sunday, 17 May: Atletico Madrid v Barcelona; Espanyol v Real Madrid

Saturday, 23 May: Barcelona v Deportivo; Real Madrid v Getafe

Saturday, 30 May: Copa del Rey final - Athletic Bilbao v Barcelona (Nou Camp)

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