Celta Vigo has postponed their LaLiga season opener against Osasuna due to a fungus outbreak affecting the field at their stadium on Thursday.
LaLiga confirmed that both teams and the Spanish soccer federation reached a consensus to delay the match originally scheduled for Sunday, citing an “illness that has impacted the stadium’s pitch.”
However, Osasuna subsequently issued a statement expressing their disagreement with the newly proposed date of August 27, claiming it contradicts their interests and undermines a “previous agreement between both clubs.”
Osasuna stated that an agreement was in place to reschedule the match for either September 24 or 25, during the international break, to avoid congesting the teams’ schedules and to allow for player recovery early in the season.
“The poor pitch conditions, resulting from a fungus, made it impractical to play on the original date, a situation that Osasuna understands,” the club noted.
“Nevertheless, neither LaLiga nor the RFEF honored the clubs’ request and made a unilateral decision to schedule the match for August 27,” Osasuna stated. “In essence, the team most impacted by the initial postponement due to circumstances beyond their control is now facing further consequences from the new schedule.”
Osasuna emphasized that both LaLiga and the Spanish federation were aware of the agreement made between the two clubs.
League representatives inspected the field at Estadio de Balaidos on Wednesday.
Celta mentioned that LaLiga had previously examined the field and validated the efforts being undertaken to eliminate the disease affecting the turf.
“However, adverse recent weather conditions have hindered the progress on the pitch, leading to the decision to postpone the match,” the club stated.
Osasuna also criticized the league and federation for making the postponement decision just three days before the match, remarking that this reflects a troubling trend of last-minute schedule adjustments due to poor planning and a lack of seriousness.
They labeled the unilateral ruling regarding the new match date as “unacceptable and disrespectful.”
“This is not football — it’s La Liga,” declared Osasuna.