Racing Santander refuse to play match

[LR9]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8ggpnpXa3Y

Racing Santander's Copa del Rey quarter-final second leg against Real Sociedad was abandoned as the Racing players went on strike.

The third-tier team announced on Monday they would boycott the game unless club president Angel Lavin and the board resigned and they formed a line on the centre circle immediately after the match at the Sardinero began.

Sociedad played the ball around in their own half for about a minute before the referee consulted home captain Mario Fernandez and brought the tie to a halt.

In bizarre scenes, which brought the financial difficulties hindering many Spanish clubs sharply into focus, rival players and coaching staff embraced on the pitch as the Santander fans chanted their support for the team.

Santander lost last week's first leg 3-1 at the Anoeta stadium in San Sebastian.

Pending official confirmation, Sociedad will go through to play record Cup winners Barcelona in the semi-finals.

"Right now we have mixed feelings of sadness and a kind of joy but it is a shame it had to come to this," Santander midfielder Javi Soria said.

"We have had things clear in our minds since Monday and we have showed tonight we are a team. We hope things get sorted out because we just want to get back to playing and try to make Racing the best it can be.

"We hope there are no legal consequences because we have done this for the good of football, for the good of a city and for the whole of Spain because there are lots of similar cases and we wanted to set an example," said Soria.