Spanish players call-off strike

Stars of Spanish football such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are set to be back in league action this weekend after players called off a strike that delayed the start of Spain's Liga for the first time in 27 years.

Negotiations had dragged on into the early morning yesterday and resumed hours later, before the players' association AFE finally said it had struck an agreement with the league to guarantee wages, so the football-addicted nation will get its weekend fix. "The strike is officially suspended," Luis Rubiales, president of the AFE said.