UPDATE

Liga F has released a statement, indicating that teams will still show up to play and will only cancel the matchday if referees do not show up at kick off time. This is a little bit of brinkmanship as well as a direct challenge to the RFEF and the actions taken by the CTA.

Full translation:

“The Professional Women’s Football League (LPFF), in response to the statement issued by the CTA announcing an indefinite cessation of the activity of the referees and assistants of the Women’s First Division, wants to report the following:

• All the teams that participate in the Women’s First Division will appear in the matches scheduled for this Saturday, September 10 and Sunday, September 11 at the time established for their dispute.
• Both the LPFF and the clubs and SAD’s participating in the competition trust that the CTA and the RFEF fulfill their obligations and ensure the presence of the referees and assistants.
• In the event that the referees and those attending the matches do not appear programmed, the LPFF will proceed to present the corresponding disciplinary complaints, requesting that punitive measures be adopted corresponding to such a serious breach, including its disqualification.
• The LPFF, together with the participating Clubs and SAD’s, will initiate the appropriate actions against the referees and assistants who fail to comply with their obligations to claim the damages that are generated.

From the LPFF, we want to make public that we are not going to accept any blackmail from any group or institution, thanking you in advance for the shows of support that, mainly from fans and footballers, we are receiving, requesting the CSD to use the necessary legal resources to guarantee the normal development of women’s professional competition.”

Matchday 1 of the new professional women’s football league in Spain, termed ‘Liga F,’ has been suspended. As a result, Real Madrid will not play Villarreal tomorrow.

The possibility of there being no football this weekend became a sudden possibility yesterday, when Primera División Femenina referees went on ‘strike’ (it technically cannot be called that, since they do not have an employment contract in the first place, which is part of the problem) over their employment and economic situation.

A summary of the situation and links to relevant information and news can be found in the match preview:

Preview, Squad List, Team News: Real Madrid vs. Villarreal; Liga F

Getty Images,

Via the official RFEF website, the CTA (the group that represents the referees) will hold a press conference this Monday, September 12, at 12:30 p.m. local time to explain the reasons for the indefinite break in their activity.

The referees unanimously came to this decision after a meeting lasting more than an hour and a long day of negotiations with the LPFF, RFEF, and CSD (Spain’s governmental council on sport).

It is unclear when the RFEF (stewards of the previous editions of the women’s top flight in Spain, known as ‘Primera Iberdrola’) and the LPFF (the organization that runs Liga F) will come to an agreement and whether another matchday will have to be postponed in the meantime.