An interesting situation has developed between La Liga clubs Real Madrid and Celta Vigo, after the expected meeting between the two in the league on Sunday was postponed due to adverse weather conditions.
Dangerous wind speeds in Balaidos had damaged the roofing of Celta Vigo's stadium, which would have presented a potentially serious hazard for the fans watching the game. Vigo and La Liga then immediately took the decision to postpone the game.
Real Madrid have reportedly threatened to break away from #LaLiga after Sunday's match at Celta Vigo was postponed: https://t.co/Klpa3AzW3f pic.twitter.com/lOzo8TG0c9
As Celta Vigo mayor Abel Caballero then claims, Madrid responded by unprofessionally attempting anything to ensure that the fixture went ahead despite the concerns.
"Once I had taken the decision at noon on Saturday, the issue was closed. My technical staff decided that there was a risk to the safety of people, and no game. La Liga showed common sense and I want to believe that the Madrid directors did the same," Caballero said toAS.
'I want to believe it, because if anyone wanted to put people's lives in danger it would be completely foolish. Someone told me that some Madrid employees had told their fans to go to the stadium, knowing there was no game."
'If that happened, it is extremely serious, and a danger to public order and security. I want to believe it was only a rumour."
After Real Madrid's match against Celta Vigo was postponed, Toni Kroos will now serve his suspension against Osasuna. [AS] pic.twitter.com/xjD7ReGIy3
You wonder why Caballero would casually bring up what he sees as a 'rumour' by 'someone', given the seriousness of that person's accusations.Real Madrid were unsurprisingly defensive in their response to claims that they knowingly put lives at risk.
"Real Madrid C. F. regrets the unfortunate statements made by the mayor of Vigo, Abel Caballero, in which he states that this club disregarded the security measures required for the Real Club Celta de Vigo v Real Madrid C.F. fixture to go ahead,'' anofficial statementread.
"Not only are the mayor's comments inappropriate, they are also totally inaccurate, because at no point in time did Real Madrid C. F. question the security measures in place at BalaÃdos."
Madrid go on to say that they proposed three possible solutions to ensure that the fixture could be played: repairing the roof, closing the affected stand and playing the fixture elsewhere.
Surely, Celta Vigo need to identify who made the claim and Madrid need to prove that their employees did not tell the fans to travel.
Hopefully, the situation will not become ugly.