Both Prisa and Mediapro will screen Spanish soccer after agreeing a ceasefire in the 'soccer war'.

Spanish soccer, likely to be the most in-demand sports league in the world after the addition of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka to Real Madrid's squad and with more star names expected to join La Liga, will now receive guaranteed television coverage within its home country.

Arguments have raged for months as the parties involved debate what games should be shown on free television and which should be on pay-TV. The issue is further complicated by the fact that Spanish teams can sell their own broadcast rights.

Under the agreement, Prisa will have exclusive rights to a Sunday night match and will show a number of other games each week on a non-exclusive basis, while Mediapro will screen matches on its free-to-air La Sexta channel.

Though the agreement guarantees matches will be screened, the situation is still far from clear. Prisa is still thought likely to sell its Digital Plus channel, on which it screens many matches, while Telefonica and Vivendi have been tipped to take stakes in the new Prisa-Mediapro rights holding.