The Spanish Players' Association called for the games to be suspended, saying it had an agreement with the Professional Football League for no official games to be played from December 23 to January 2 inclusive.

But the court said the dispute over the games on matchday 17 was not within its ambit.

"The Social Chamber of the High Court has declared it is not competent to decide on the precautionary measure of suspending the League for Sunday January 2," it said in a statement.

It said the players' association could pursue the case through the administrative disputes court.

The judges recognised that in the deal between the two parties, "they expressly agreed that they would not hold games on that date".

But the ruling effectively gave the go-ahead for the matches because the courts are closed on December 31 and January 1.

Spanish media said the footballers were using the case to press the league to find a solution to the problem of unpaid players' salaries, especially at second division Real Betis.