World Cup news
Friday’s World Cup 2014 qualifier between Spain and Belarus will go ahead as planned despite a serious accident at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca where the game is to be played, according to the Spanish FA.
GettyImagesSpain were set to play at the Son Moix in Mallorca
An explosion on Thursday afternoon at Real Mallorca’s home ground had lead to widespread fears that the game would have to be postponed or moved elsewhere.
But RFEF spokesperson Jorge Carretero told Europa Press that as far as he was concerned the game would kickoff as originally scheduled at 10pm local time on Friday night.
“The game is not in danger, not at all,” Carretero said. “We are not working on changing the date. The only thing to worry about is those injured, who we wish a quick recovery, and nothing more.”
Both teams had been due to train at Son Moix on Thursday evening, however those plans were cancelled after a generator in the ground’s car park exploded, with the RFEF looking to bring the two squads to Mallorca’s Ciudad Deportiva Antonio Asensio to train instead.
Two people were taken to hospital with serious injuries after the incident, while the site was closed off to allow police to investigate what had occurred.
Work to fix the electrical problem, and return power to the ground’s floodlights, turnstiles and other areas, cannot start until the initial investigation was completed, AS reported, meaning there was a serious doubt whether everything could be back up and running again by kickoff time on Friday evening.
One option circulated was to postpone the game by 24 hours until Saturday evening. That would be far from ideal for Vicente del Bosque’s side, who are scheduled to play their final qualifier at home to Georgia on Tuesday in Albacete.
World Cup holders Spain need four points from the two games to ensure direct qualification for next summer’s finals in Brazil.
Comments
Use a Facebook account to add a comment, subject to Facebook’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your Facebook name, photo & other personal information you make public on Facebook will appear with your comment, and may be used on ESPN’s media platforms. Learn more.
