I'm sure we have all seen the scenario at one point or another. Two teams are coming down to the wire for a playoff spot, and then one of them ends up playing a team at the end of the season that has nothing to play for, trounces them, and wins the playoff berth.
So what if you were a fan of that other team? Wouldn't you want the team with nothing to play for to have, you know, something to play for?
Well, that is exactly what is going on right now in La Liga, Spain's top soccer league. Perrenial powerhouses Real Madrid and Barcelona are currently tied going into the final game of the season, and Real Madrid holds the head to head tiebreaker between the two teams. Both Real and Barca face very easy opponents and Real's opponent, Real Mallorca, has nothing to play for bu pride since they are already safe from relagation to a lower league. In other words, both Barcelona and Real Madrid should win, meaning Real would be the champions of La Liga. Which leads us to the allegations that Barcelona is going to, and already has earlier in the season, give incentives to Real's opponents if they defeat them:
Sports daily Marca has reported that Real Mallorca have been promised two million euros (2.7 million US dollars) if they defeat or draw against Real Madrid on Sunday.
Real Madrid, which is tied with arch rivals Barcelona on 73 points with one round left, need to beat Real Mallorca to win La Liga for a record 30th time.
The newspaper said each Real Zaragoza player received 50,000 euros following their side’s 2-2 draw against Real Madrid on Saturday. The players would have received double that amount had they defeated Real Madrid, it added.
To answer the obvious question, yes, this is indeed against the rules of the Spanish Football Federation. Even so, some of the prominent players on Barcelona have decided that such rules are not too terribly stringent:
Officially, Barcelona president Joan Laoprta has said nothing about a "motivational payment," but Barca players Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi are quoted in all the newspapers on Monday as saying that their club should offer money to Mallorca.
So is the Spanish Football Federation going to step in and stop this? Probably not, as according to various media reports these kinds of practices have been going on for years, and it is only coming to light at present because the media has decided to make an issue of it for once. In fact, another mini scandal erupted earlier this week when former Real Madrid player Davor Suker admitted to recieving payments from other clubs in 1996. And you thought American sports leagues had problems? Imagine if the Bears started paying the Lions $5 million every time they beat the Packers. American sports fans would be outraged. Evidently the same standard does not apply to the "other" football across the pond.
