DEL NIDO CARRASCO: "THEY HAVE DELIBERATELY TRIED TO LIMIT OUR ON-FIELD ABILITY"

Club President, José María del Nido Carrasco, spoke to the media during the visit to the Virgen del Rocío hospital, discussing the news that the club will be cutting ties with Real Betis Balompié. He started, "We had no other option following the actions of the Real Betis Balompié Board of Directors. They reported us with the intention of punishing us on the field for an off-field incident. Celebrating is only natural after a derby win."

"We live in Sevilla, a city with two teams who are both well aware what a derby is. It is not just the match, it is the week building up and the aftermath too. When our players, all of which came through our academy, celebrated with the flag, no offence was meant to Betis. It has to be understood in the context of celebration. We always respect Real Betis and its fans."

"We believe that the relationship between two institutions should be based on honesty, loyalty and respect"

"It seems that the Real Betis president only sees the relationship as official dinners or sitting in the Directors' Box. But, for us, we believe that the relationship between two institutions should be based on honesty, loyalty and respect. Having lost a derby match, filing a report against opposition players for celebrating only suggests bitterness and an inability to compete on the field. Imagine had we not won against Celta de Vigo and had we been in a situation at the end of the season where three points would make all the difference. We would look back at this incident, where three key players were given suspensions due to a complaint by Real Betis. Fortunately, we won the game in spite of the suspensions. However, the intention behind this act is enough for us to cut institutional ties. But I would like to ask the fans to show respect to Real Betis and its fans. We are completely against this type of petty behaviour that the Real Betis Board of Directors has shown," he continued. 

"The morning after, I rang Ángel Haro because of a conversation with Joaquín Caparrós in the Directors' Box. I told him, without explicitly referencing the flag, that if he had felt uncomfortable about anything that had happened, then we apologise. I wanted to make sure that he was all okay. He responded, saying that nothing that happened had bothered him. What happens on the pitch stays on the pitch. He did not tell me that the flag had upset him. An apology is clearly not what they were after, rather pursuing on-field sanctions against us. I simply cannot associate myself with a Board of Directors that does not act with honesty."

"The Real Betis Board of Directors has broken the moral code that exists between football clubs, not least between clubs of the same city"

"I understand that the emotion of a derby match can bubble over, leading to irrational repsonses, in the same way I understand the actions of three young players, three local boys who have come through the academy. What I struggle to understand is the desire to cause on-field damage after the emotion of the affair has settled down - taking the incident to a judge and tribunal. The Real Betis Board of Directors has broken the moral code that exists between football clubs, not least between clubs of the same city. We will not be attending the official dinner nor sitting in the Directors' Box in the reverse fixture," he added.

Then, our Club President spoke about Manuel Pellegrini and Joaquín's invitations to Jesús Navas's retirement ceremony. "Jesús has personally invited Pellegrini and Joaquín. Pellegrini has formerly been his coach and he was present at Joquín's leaving ceremony. He wanted them both to be present. Whether they will come or not is a question only they can answer, but Jesús wanted them to be there." Asked about the behaviour shown by the Real Betis directors, he responded, "This is not what we are about as a club. The difference is, when the Real Betis players and directors publicly mocked our plaeyrs following their Copa del Rey victory, it did not even occur to us to report Guardado, Canales and Borja Iglesias in the hope of getting them suspended. They have crossed a line and created a dangerous precedent."

"I cannot let them discredit my players nor my club"

"In the phone call with Ángel Haro, he did not tell me that there was an issue. Yet after the event three of our players have ended up with suspensions for the Celta game. He had the opportunity to talk to me and explain to me what was needed to do, be it a public or private apology. But they wanted to hurt us on the field. I cannot let them discredit my players nor my club."

Finally, he said, "We will not tolerate their actions. They have deliberately tried to limit our on-field abilities. We would not to this to them. I feel betrayed. I can't believe that, after the event, they would seek on-field punishments for this. They wanted to hurt us, having been unable to do so during the match. It really is baffling that they have betrayed us in this way by filing the report."