Sports FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015 Planned strike by top Spanish players suspended MADRID: A potential strike by top who argued the action was illegal. The their website (www.rfef.es). season 2016-17, and remove some of the Spanish footballers has been suspended national soccer federation (RFEF) are also La Liga leaders Barcelona can now visit weighting towards the richest and most after a petition filed by the league (LFP) unhappy with the law but, following Atletico Madrid on Sunday when a win successful clubs such as Real Madrid and against planned action by the players’ Thursday’s court ruling, they reversed would secure a fifth title in seven years for Barca. union (AFE) was upheld by the High their decision to suspend competition the Catalan giants. The new TV law, The AFE support the idea of collective Court yesterdayday. indefinitely across Spanish football from approved last month and backed by the bargaining but are less than pleased with The strike threatened to disrupt the Saturday. LFP, would replace the current system the share of cash set aside for lower divi- final two matchdays in La Liga, and the “Taking into account the order made under which rights are marketed by indi- sion clubs. King’s Cup final at the end of the month, by the High Court today, the Spanish foot- vidual clubs, unique among Europe’s top The RFEF believe the law will rob because the AFE were unhappy with a ball federation lifts the measure (suspen- leagues where collective bargaining is the federation of powers and are new law mandating collective bargaining sion) ... so the competitions can be played used. opposed to what they say are plans to for the sale of television rights. according to the schedule and times origi- The measure aims to share out cash use money from football to fund other That provoked a challenge by the LFP nally planned,” the federation said on more fairly between teams, starting from sports. —Reuters Nadal advances in q-finals as Murray, Serena pull out ROME: Number four seed Rafael Nadal admitted suffering from the Real Madrid blues as he advanced to the quarter-finals of the Italian Open on Thursday with a straight-sets win over American John Isner. Nadal came into the event looking to make amends for his defeat to Andy Murray in the final of the Madrid Masters last week, when the Scot took his victory streak to a remarkable 10 wins out of 10 on clay this season. The Spaniard’s hopes of seeing his beloved Real Madrid go all the way in the Champions League, however, were kept in check when the record 10-time champions were ousted from the semi-finals of the competition by Juventus on Wednesday. While Nadal now meets Swiss Stan Wawrinka, who beat Dominic Thiem 7-6 (6/3), 6-4, for a place in the semi-finals, he admits-at least publicly-he will be sitting on the fence when Real’s arch-rivals Barcelona take on Juventus in the June 6 final of Europe’s premier club competition in Berlin. “I’ve lost a lot of times, and Real Madrid lost yesterday. That’s just part and parcel of sport,” said the Spaniard, who beat Isner 6-4, 6-4 to extend his winning streak over the tall, big-serving American to 6-0. “I have a good friend at Juventus in Fernando Llorente - I will be happy for him - and also Alvaro Morata. “At the end of the day, if Barcelona win I will be happy for them, but if Juventus win I will also be happy because I have friends there as well.” In the meantime, Nadal said he was happy with his game but said he was not “consistent enough” to be con- sidered the main favourite for the French Open next month, when he will be bidding for a record 10th title in Paris. Andy Murray and Serena Williams pulled out of the Italian VANCOUVER: Vancouver Whitecaps’ Jordan Harvey, right, pulls FC Edmonton’s Lance Laing’s jersey during the Open yesterday ahead of their third-round matches. second half of a Canadian Championship soccer semifinal in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Wednesday. —AP Murray said he was tired, while Williams claimed she was suf- fering with an elbow injury. “I practiced 40 minutes and felt pretty exhausted,” Murray told a news conference ahead of his match against Belgian David Goffin. Stuttgart, Hamburg primed “It didn’t make sense for me to keep going because when you feel like this it becomes a risk to play.” Murray recently won back- to-back tournaments in Munich and Madrid, the first claycourt for survival showdown titles of his career. —Agencies MUNICH: Former Bundesliga champions VfB Stuttgart and Hamburg now have a good starting position and I am confident that we will have SV will make what could be their last roll of the dice to remain in the top a happy ending.” division when they face each other in the penultimate match of the sea- Stuttgart, champions as recently as 2007, have also shown signs of son tomorow. life recently to close the gap on the sides above but defeat against Former European champions Hamburg have gathered some Hamburg could prove fatal. momentum under new coach Bruno Labbadia with two wins and a Should they lose and Freiburg, Paderborn and Hanover 96 win it draw in his four matches in charge, moving up from last place and into would seal their relegation. 14th on 32 points. Huub Stevens’ team have picked up four points in their last three However, with last-placed Stuttgart just two points behind, matches and last week’s victory over Mainz 05 left Stuttgart sporting Hamburg are far from safe as they bid to remain the only team that has director Robin Dutt imploring fans not to get too excited. played in every Bundesliga season since its foundation in 1963. “It is not impossible to expect to win against Hamburg,” Dutt said. “We have managed to put our fate in our own hands,” said keeper “We believe we can stay up but we must not become complacent.” Rene Adler, who has been reinstated as number one under Labbadia. “Before the Mainz game we were mired in doom and gloom but “We want to win at Stuttgart so that we can have a final at home now we are heading towards the other extreme.” against Schalke 04 on the last matchday.” Borussia Dortmund will look to continue their climb up the table and Labbadia is the fourth coach this season after Mirko Slomka, Joe secure a Europa League spot when they face Cup final opponents VfL Zinnbauer and interim coach Peter Knaebel but his arrival could not Wolfsburg, who are sitting in second place and have already secured a have been timed any better with the team battling to protect top three finish. Hamburg’s storied top flight status. Borussia Moenchengladbach will seal their maiden Champions ROME: Spain’s Rafael Nadal returns the ball to US “Stuttgart are a tough opponent but for us it is a huge chance to League group stage spot if they beat Werder Bremen or if fourth-placed John Isner during the ATP Tennis Open tournament take that next step,” sporting director Dietmar Beiersdorfer said. “We Bayer Leverkusen drop points against Hoffenheim. —Reuters at the Foro Italico in Rome yesterday. —AFP.