The English Watford flatly refuses to extend the loan of Luis Suárez beyond August 5, which would leave Real Zaragoza clearly inferior to face the promotion ‘playoff’. This circumstance has led to an urgent meeting of the board of directors of the Aragonese club and the subsequent appearance of representative president Christian Lapetra to expose the seriousness of the situation and warn of the possible adulteration of the competition if he could not align the Colombian striker, second maximum Second Division scorer, with 19 goals, and who does wish to contest promotion promotion with Zaragoza.
“All this supposes an attack against the integrity of the competition. We still do not know the dates or the rival of the ‘playoff’, but today we are already harmed. We want to play and earn the promotion, but under equal conditions and with all the guarantees “, Lapetra just pointed out in his appearance.
Zaragoza is also waiting for the Italian Genoa to give an official response from the Moroccan central El Yamiq, whose loan was also extended until August 5, while its presence is assured until the official end of the 2019 campaign- 20 from the Portuguese André Pereira (Porto).
The difference between Luis Suárez and El Yamiq with four of the seven loaned out of the squad is that their home clubs are foreigners and it was necessary to negotiate a specific date, which was established on August 5, because initially the 'playoff' It was going to end three days before, but the delay due to what happened with Deportivo-Fuenlabrada has made that date very scarce.
In the loans of Soro (Real Madrid), Álex Blanco (Valencia), Burgui (Alavés) and Puado (Espanyol) it is specified that this extension is until the competition ends in this course, since there was a tacit agreement between all the Spanish professional clubs for this.
Christian Lapetra's full statement
“Since the resumption of the competition in mid-June and until its end two weeks ago, Real Zaragoza has maintained a deep respect for the rules that have been adopted for the return to football, but the news we received a few hours ago in relationship with Watford's refusal to extend Luis Suárez's loan contract beyond August 5, despite the fact that the player wants to continue with us and play the 'playoff' with Real Zaragoza, and after the council meeting administration today Friday morning, we want to state that this is an attack on the integrity of the competition. As of today we do not know the date to play the ‘playoff’ or the rival we must face, but Zaragoza today is already harmed. We consider it incomprehensible that at this stage, the appropriate measures have not been taken or taken to guarantee the end of the competition. We want to play, we want to earn a promotion in the ‘playoff’, but we want to do it on equal terms and with all the guarantees. We demand the involvement of sports organizations so that all necessary measures are taken to guarantee the integrity of the 'playoff' dispute. Anything other than guaranteeing that Real Zaragoza can play with all of its available squad will mean that it will be adulterated and Zaragoza will obviously take whatever measures it deems appropriate. ”