Real Mallorca booted out of Europa League by UEFA
UEFA President Michel Platini (Photo: Klearchos Kapoutsis)
Real Mallorca have been kicked out of this season’s Europa League after UEFA deemed the club not to have met the necessary criteria to satisfy entry into the competition.
Mallorca earned their Europa Leauge place after finishing fifth in last year’s Primera Division. However the club is currently in voluntary administration with their debts reaching a reported £69 million.
As a consequence, the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body deemed the cash-strapped club to have contravened Article 2.07 of the Europa League Regulations.
It is a decision which has infuriated club manager Michael Laudrap as well as Mallorca shareholder and tennis world No1, Rafael Nadal.
Many cynics within Spain are labelling UEFA president Michel Platini as the tyrant behind the crusade to expel Mallorca from European competition. Laudrap has reportedly written a strongly-worded letter directly to the Frenchman.
Meanwhile Nadal voiced his opinions on the current situation at the club.
“I hope they will fix it, but it won’t be easy,” he said.
He continued: “If it is a subject of economics there will not be European competition because every team is the same.”
Such is the staunch sentiment of injustice felt in Spain, La Liga chief Francisco Roca Perez has aired his frustrations over the decision to ban Mallorca.
“Mallorca was awarded a licence before they went into receivership and then they took the licence away,” said Perez.
“When UEFA gave the licence to Mallorca, the economic situation of the team was exactly the same as today, nothing has changed.”
Mallorca have launched an appeal against the decision but Perez is unsure whether the action will be successful.
“This is very complex so I don’t know what the outcome will be.”
“We are certainly spectators on that battle because we have no say in what UEFA will do because it is not our competition it is UEFA’s but we are bothered by this situation.”
It is situation which bears loose comparisons to Portsmouth’s plight. The English club would have ordinarily qualified for this season’s Europa League after reaching the FA Cup final. However due their administration status their application for a UEFA license was rejected.
