ST. PAUL, Minnesota: The NFL and its players were in court Wednesday, the players asking a judge to grant an injunction that would lift the lockout imposed by owners after contract talks between the parties broke down. The players argue that the lockout, the first work stoppage in the United States' most popular spectator sport since the 1987 strike, is causing “irreparable harm” to their careers. US District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson said it would take “a couple of weeks” to rule on the injunction request. In the meantime, she urged both sides to go back to the negotiating table and try to settle their differences there. Billionaire team owners and multimillionaire players have been unable to agree on how to divide more than $9b in annual revenue. The owners want to take more of the revenue off the top before sharing the rest with players, but players said owners didn't offer enough financial information to back up that demand. The injunction request heard Wednesday accompanies an antitrust lawsuit that players filed against the league after talks broke down on March 11, when the union decertified as a bargaining body. The three highest-profile players among the named plaintiffs in the players' lawsuit — superstar quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees — did not attend the hearing. Among the players who were in court were Mike Vrabel, Ben Leber, Vincent Jackson, Brian Robison and Von Miller, who were all named as plantiffs in the case. Although the 2011 season isn't scheduled to begin for several months, James Quinn, a lawyer for the players, told the court: “All of these players are being affected every day by being locked out.” The league countered that it has the right to keep players from working. And they believe the court doesn't have jurisdiction in the case until the National Labor Relations Board has ruled on the unfair labor complaint lodged by the league. The NFL contends that the decertification of the union, which paved the way for court action, was a “sham” tactic that compromised contract negotiations. David Boies, a lawyer for the league, noted the NFL Players Association, now defined as a “trade association” rather than a union is still funding the litigation and offering services for the players. – Agence France
