Why Spanish players are on strike

Hope you enjoyed Messi's performance against

Arsenal. He's on strike next week.

The top two tiers of the Spanish football leagues will be on strike next week.

As it stands, there will be no soccer matches in Spain next weekend after the Spanish players' union, the AFE, Friday called a strike over unpaid wages that will halt games in the country's top four leagues between April 16 and April 19.

The AFE said that 85% of soccer players in Spain's top three divisions either get paid late or not at all. It also says that the Spanish Football Federation still owes the union €8 million ($10.7 million).

So why are players going unpaid or paid late? Here's one reason why.

The reality of the financial situation in Spanish football is that Barcelona and Real Madrid earn more than four times as much from the domestic TV deal alone as any other La Liga side and their turnover is more than six times as high.

Although they are among the wealthiest sporting franchises on the planet, the reality below them is disconcerting. Both clubs have used their weight to accumulate more of the domestic TV revenue to enable them become wealthier at the expense of the remainder of Spanish football.

What is the result of this pay disparity? Barcelona and Real Madrid have won the last 5 league titles, one of them will make it 6 straight this year, and 21 of the last 25 league titles (HT: myfootballfacts). It seems as if the EPL isn't the only league with a pay-to-win problem that's leading to financial problems.