Racing Santander's players boycott Copa del Rey match against Real Sociedad

Racing Santander’s players stand on the field waiting for the directive to resign before playing the game aginst Real Sociedad CF during the Copa del Rey Quarter Final first on January 30, 2014 in Santander, Spain.

Racing Santader’s Cope del Rey encounter with Real Sociedad was suspended on Thursday with the Santader players refusing to play at home after the home players after not being paid for several months.

The players have not been paid for various months, despite the promises of payment from the president and had threatened to boycott the quarter-final second leg unless club president Ángel Lavín and his board stepped down.

A few home fans turned up and showed their appreciation for the the players’ action and turned to the president’s box to once again demand the present Racing directors take a hike. Luis Rubiales, head of the Association of Spanish Footballers, ensured the Racing players and coaching staff in Santader that they had complete backing of their union.

“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 told Canal Plus TV.

“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.”

The boycott meant a 3-1 win for Real Sociedad who were the winners in the first leg as they now advance to face Barcelona in the semi-final.