Top Spanish clubs poised to create own division

MADRID - A battle between Spanish clubs over revenue from TV deals escalated on Monday when some of the richer teams said they planned to create a separate first division and poorer clubs urged the government to introduce a system of collective bargaining.

After a meeting of a group including Real Madrid and Barcelona, the professional soccer league (LFP) said agreement had been reached to discuss how to create a separate first division similar to the Premier League or Italy's Serie A.

Poorer clubs from the first and second divisions responded by calling on Spain's Socialist government to force all professional clubs to adopt a system of collective negotiation like that in rival European leagues, the LFP said in a separate statement.