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News Archive

2013-14 Season update

Another special report by our financial correspondent, Peregrine Percyfield.

Deadline day has come and gone, and as usual it was a mad rush to get things sorted out in time. Most clubs did find a solution though, and as we go to press only Alcorcón are still waiting for their fate to be decided. Mirandés appeared to be doomed to relegation after their main shareholder failed to put up the €1.3 million capital they needed to stay up (see our last report of 30 July, link below), but rallied by team captain and day time bank manager Pablo Infante the players cobbled together half a million or so with hours to go, and the other directors were so impressed that they managed to raise the rest.

The even bigger story however was in Coruña, where a last minute agreement was reached for the players to withdraw demands for back pay which would have sent Deportivo spiralling in to a second relegation and subsequent liquidation. The players and their union (AFE) took the matter to the brink, but after realizing that they would be shooting themselves in the foot if they went any further, and with the courts and the other creditors agreeing to pay as much as they could under Spanish bankruptcy law, the players gave in and the club were allowed to stay in the second division.

The news was not so good though for Alcorcón, Xerez and Guadalajara. Alcorcón are under investigation for irregularities in their capital increase (why now and not several months ago is a mystery to us), and with league (LFP) appointed auditors BDO still carrying out their investigation, a decision about their continuity in the second division will not be reached until next Friday, 9th August, just a week before the season begins! Alcorcón (who just missed out on promotion to the top flight twice in the last two seasons) strongly protest their innocence, but if the LFP rule that they should go down, Racing Santander are waiting in the wings.

However with the virtually bankrupt Cantabrians also accused of match fixing and who knows what else, it is difficult to see them being the replacements, and Huesca (who finished next to bottom in the second division) would be next in line. Far be it for us to suggest anything improper, but new LFP president Javier Tebas, a Costa Rican born lawyer who was previously the club president of Huesca, would not be the unhappiest man in the world if his old club were the ones to be saved!

Second division bottom club Xerez gave up the fight well before the season ended though, and after being relegated to the regional second division B, they were dropped one more level to the ever-so regional third division after failing to settle the demands of their players for amounts owing. As reported a couple of days ago, they have already decided to reform as a new organization, and after playing in the first division only a couple of seasons ago, their future is uncertain.

Meanwhile the Salamanca issue reported two days ago still seems not to have been resolved, and with so many things going on, the Federation (RFEF) postponed the formation of the lower division regional groups by a further few days, albeit that they are still scheduling the opening matches for the weekend of 17/18 August, just two weeks from now!

So to Guadalajara, who appealed to the Spanish courts to try and get themselves reinstated after they were told that they too would be relegated to the regional second division B for irregularities in the capital increase (seems that auditors BDO reported that shareholders put the money in, but took it out again a few days later!). Murcia have already replaced them in the fixture list, but they were hopeful of the courts ruling in their favour, especially after Orihuela were reinstated to the second division B last season, a decision which resulted in a revised regional group of 21 teams.

However they have just received the news that the courts didn't consider it urgent, and as the legal authorities shut down for holidays throughout the month of August, the case will not be heard until late September! The club have agreed to start therefore in the second division B, but if they win their appeal then the whole league calendar may have to be revised a month in to the season. Welcome to Spain! (02.08.13) .