Article Written By: Omar Fernandez
Racing Santander refused to play the second leg of their Copa del Rey match against Real Sociedad on January 30. Updates according to the Associated Press say that Santander have been banned from next seasons Copa del Rey after refusing to play against Real Sociedad. “Racing Santander’s boycott of a Copa del Rey quarterfinal over unpaid wages caused the third-tier Spanish club to be banned from the domestic cup tournament for one season. Santander refused to play after taking the field against Real Sociedad on Thursday, with the referee suspending the quarterfinal return leg after one minute. For the stance, Santander was banned from the Copa del Rey for the 2014-15 season, and the heavily indebted club also received a fine of 3,006 euros.
It turns out that the squad had not been paid for months already. As the match began, the players lined up around the line of the middle circle of the field and refused to play. Real Sociedad advanced to the Copa del Rey semifinals where they will face Barcelona. They had a 3-1 lead from the first leg prior to Santander boycotted and did not play during the second leg. Santander had played first division from 1993 to 2012. Sadly, they have been relegated in year after year to drop down to Segunda Division B.
Issues with the president Angel Lavin and the board have created even more problems for the club. It goes to show how bad things are for a club when months go by where the club doesn’t pay their own players. How the club will handle the situation is still unclear but dramatic changes must be made at Racing Santander before the players can return to play again.