Mallorca plead with Platini

Tennis star Nadal among those appealing Europe ban

Last updated: 29th July 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Mallorca plead with Platini

Nadal: Part of club set-up

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Real Mallorca have written to Uefa president Michel Platini protesting their ban from playing in Europe this season.

The cash-strapped club finished in fifth place in La Liga in the last campaign to qualify for the Europa League, but due to their administration problems, new boss Michael Laudrup's team have not fulfilled the admission criteria.

Uefa have not published any reasons as to why the decision has been made, but the Balearic Islands club, who are part-owned by native tennis world number one Rafael Nadal, have appealed the ruling.

"It's very true that our club has problems, in this day and age, who doesn't," read the letter.

"Do you think that (Real Mallorca) is in a worse situation than other clubs that today have been accepted into European competition? We are reluctant to believe that it's easier (for UEFA) to exclude a modest-sized club."

Deserved

The letter concludes by arguing that the club deserve their place in the Europa League after winning qualification on the pitch and urges Uefa to play fair.

Mallorca, like many Spanish clubs, have been slipping further into the red due to rising wage and transfer costs and a recent University of Barcelona study indicated they had debts of around 85million euros.

Nadal became a shareholder in the club this month and his uncle, former soccer professional Miguel Angel Nadal, is Laudrup's assistant.

Rafa Nadal hit out at Uefa on Tuesday, saying it was 'a hell of a blow'.

Mallorca's place in the Europa League has provisionally been taken by Villarreal.