Players in Uruguay's top two men's divisions have voted unanimously to boycott this weekend's games (9 and 10/9) amid a dispute over their collective agreement, international players' union FIFPRO announced the saturday 9th of september.

The Uruguayan Professional Footballers' Union (MUFP) voted yesterday (7/9) not to play games, with the aim of an updated and approved collective agreement with the existing one signed in 2007. The boycott allows participation in training.

"We have been in collective bargaining for 22 months and, as of today, we are still waiting for a response from the clubs," Mitchell Duarte, MUFP secretary general, told FIFPRO.

"We understand that we have followed the necessary path at the necessary time. We need to take this kind of action to focus attention and achieve a defined outcome.”

The MUFP has been trying to negotiate for several months with the Uruguayan Football Federation (AUF) and the Professional Football Council, which is made up of the 16 A and 14 B Division clubs.  Duarte said wages, particularly in the second category, are "quite low."

"The biggest difficulties we encountered are in raising the salaries in the B category," said Duarte.

“This has been the central theme of many discussions, but the strike covers all business sectors. There has been no real wage increase since 2007 and we have been in this situation for a long time,” he added.

"Despite updates through FIFA's regulations and statutes, we still have a collective agreement dating back sixteen years, and we are quite behind in many aspects - that is something that concerns us."

Duarte said that until the issue is fixed, it will be "difficult for activity to return."