Spain’s football federation has backed a strike by the country’s players’ union that could shut down all domestic games from May 16 in a dispute over TV money.

The RFEF said that it was backing an “indefinite” strike planned to start in just over a week’s time. If it goes ahead it could affect the final two match days of La Liga, the Spanish first division, on May 17 and May 23 as well as the Copa del Rey on May 30.

The federation and the union are taking the action in protest at a proposed law on the sale of television rights and how the income is divided.

The new deal would supposedly give first-division players 90 per cent of the income, while the union wants more to go to second-division players.

Hours after the strike was threatened, the Spanish league retaliated by saying it is taking legal measures against the RFEF.

It said in a statement that the “decision adopted by RFEF is legally void” and that it had “taken the corresponding legal actions … in defence of the legitimate interests of its clubs.”

This is the latest, and most serious, of a series of confrontations between the leaders of the governing bodies of Spanish football.

RFEF president Angel Maria Villar has had frequent disputes with Miguel Cardenal, the head of the government’s sports council, and Javier Tebas, the president of the Spanish league.

Tebas said that the law is important to bring in a haul similar to the eye-watering £5 billion recently netted by the Premier League for 2016-19.

Currently clubs negotiate individually with the lion’s share — about £100 million each — going to Barcelona and Real Madrid, with the next highest earners receiving about £30m.

The league has called an extraordinary meeting for the 42 first and second-division clubs on Monday.