“This smells rotten”

The Fuenlabrada staff was informed by surprise this morning that a videoconference would be held in which the president, Jonathan Praena, would participate; the general director, Patricia Praena; and the sports director, Miguel Melgar. In it, Melgar himself informed the players that he had been informed by LaLiga and the FEF that August 16 was, yes or yes, the deadline for the end of the Second Division competition. Praena had sent a previous message to the players in which he felt sure that it would be played: “We have two games, against Depor and against Covid.”

But the footballers did not match the dates. The Fuenlabrada squad had to be quarantined until August 2, so Depor-Fuenlabrada could not be played, at least until day 3. But there was more. The medical services of the staff stressed at the meeting that they would need 48 or 72 hours from that August 2 to contrast the results of the latest tests that the staff underwent. That, without even counting on the fact that some could not even train before playing again …

It still started to smell more burned when Praena informed the players that, if LaLiga did not expect them, they would accept the decision, they would give up playing and they would not report to the body chaired by Javier Tebas. In addition, he added that on Tuesday and Wednesday there would be a final decision. Interestingly, LaLiga published the statement minutes later announcing that Fuenlabrada was resigning (?) From playing the pending match. That was the bomb that blew everything up at the Finiesterre hotel in A Coruña. “It smells rotten,” was the catchphrase that ran like wildfire through the rooms.

The players cooked for hours a statement issued this afternoon and in which the word “outrage” was capitalized in the first paragraph. The footballers consider themselves the only ones disadvantaged and demand that LaLiga play, even if only with the available footballers. But they also demand it from their club (“defend the interests of the squad”). They have earned it on the field of play for 41 days and threaten to take legal action.