The Kings League of Gerard Piqué wants to dismiss half of the workers

BarcelonaKings League, the company founded by former Barça footballer Gerard Piqué that organizes streaming football tournaments, has filed a collective dismissal procedure (ERO) to lay off 41 of its 83 employees, as reported by the law firm Col·lectiu Ronda in a statement on behalf of the staff.

According to La Vanguardia, the 41 possible dismissals – all at the company's headquarters in Barcelona – represent less than a third of the staff, which is 125 employees (or 18% of the total of 230 workers globally). However, Col·lectiu Ronda denies this percentage and states that Kings League has 83 employees in total.

The company also plans to "temporarily cease" the competitions it organizes in France and Germany, a decision that the employees' statement describes as a closure "with no return date" for these competitions. This also means that "the majority of freelance employees in these countries will also lose their jobs," the text adds.

Kings League will halt its activity during the second half of 2026 to rethink and develop a new product, an event that the workers consider "lacks credibility." "Without the qualified people who have made the events possible, this future simply may not be viable," the workers opine. The company assures, however, that it plans to resume the competitions scheduled from next year onwards as normal.

"Three weeks ago, we were informed of the start of a collective dismissal process. We were demanded confidentiality – even in a threatening tone – so as not to harm the company's commercial agreements with current and potential brands and investors," the statement indicates, regarding the relationship between the staff and the company led by Djamel Agaoua.

According to the Col·lectiu Ronda, Agaoua himself indicated in a statement sent to the workers that the company "has burned money," which, in the staff's opinion, questions his leadership and that of Piqué. However, sources from Kings League deny to ARA that Agaoua has sent any communication to the staff or that he has made any reference to burning money at any time.

"If anything is clear, it is that waste and excess have not been linked to the workers' salaries," recall the staff representatives, who add that the group closed a new investment round last February, in which it obtained 63 million euros. "It is hard to believe that there are no alternative ways to dismissals, a measure that the company itself admits only saves just over 2 million euros," the statement points out.

The group, created in 2023, has been rapidly expanding the scope of its competitions, first with the Kings League and the Queens League – football 7 leagues – in Spain and later in other countries, as well as organizing a world championship to be held in Italy next month. "During these three years, the staff affected by the ERO has worked systematically beyond the legal limit of 80 annual overtime hours. In most cases, these hours have not been compensated either financially or with rest time, given the constant demands of the company," denounces the staff.