Lionel Messi has won the inaugural UEFA Best Player in Europe award for the 2010-11 season. Messi beat his Barcelona teammate Xavi Hernandez and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid in a poll of journalists from across Europe. Argentina forward Messi scored 53 goals as he and Xavi led Barcelona to the Champions League and Spanish titles. A panel of 53 journalists drawn from each of UEFA's member nations voted ahead of the draw for this season's Champions League group stage. UEFA created the honor after “France Football” magazine combined its traditional European award with FIFA's world player prize. Messi won that award in January when Xavi placed third. — AP Spanish strike called off Spanish footballers Thursday called off a strike that has delayed the start of the Spanish season after reaching agreement with clubs on unpaid wages, the players' association AFE said. “The strike committee of the AFE and the Professional Football League reached an agreement that guarantees footballers' salaries by various means,” it said in a statement. “The strike planned for Friday Aug. 26, Sat. 27, Sun. 28 and Mon. 29 is called off.” Serie A strike likely The Italian football federation's last-minute attempts to avoid a Serie A players strike failed Thursday when the clubs rejected a rescue measure, making it likely that Saturday's planned start to the season will be delayed. To appease one of the players' gripes, federation president Giancarlo Abete offered €20 million ($29 million) to cover extra costs for a new solidarity tax that applies to high-wage earners. But Serie A President Maurizio Beretta said the clubs' stance remains unchanged.
