Espanyol ask La Liga to scrap relegation after finishing bottom

Espanyol ask La Liga to scrap relegation after finishing bottom

El último entrenamiento del Espanyol previo al partido ante el Celta / | RCDE

The club have explained their reasoning in a lengthy statement released on Monday

Espanyol have asked for relegation from the top two decisions in Spain to be scrapped completely due to the confusion and unfair conditions generated this season due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

In a long statement, Espanyol called for "the elimination of relegation across La Liga's (two competitions, La Liga and Segunda) in the same way that has happened in (those competitions) organised by the RFEF." 

The Barcelona based club point out that all clubs decided to make a huge effort for La Liga to restart to save the money from television rights, but feel the situation has got worse. 

They cite the failure to complete the Fuenlabrada-Deportivo de la Coruña match that has caused such a headache for La Liga, tha lack of fans in stadiums -- Espanyol say that was "much more noticeable" for them because "we played against five rivals in the fight for survival --  and the fact some clubs, such as themselves and Valencia, suffered particuarly bad Covid-19 outbreaks as reasons for their argument, 

Espanyol feel "the situation was inevitably unfair in a sporting sense" and that the end of the season "was not played in the same conditions as before the suspension." 

But mainly, that the impact of Covid-19 is going to extend into the 2020-21 season and that "if you add that to the affect of relegation, the accumulated penalties are devastating and unjust for the clubs affected." 

Espanyol are the first La Liga club to make a statement like this. So far, it had just been second division sides, where the playoffs have been ruined due to outbreaks of coronavirus, that have made similar demands, regarding games being repeated and relegation being removed. 

The Pericos were relegated to the second flight of Spanish football for the first time since the early 1990s after finishing bottom of the league. 

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