The city of Malaga has hosted this morning the presentation of the final of the Copa de La Reina 2020, which faces Logroño and Barcelona and will be held on February 13, in an act that was attended by the president of the RFEF, Luis Rubiales; the Minister of Education and Sports of the Junta de Andalucía, Francisco Javier Imbroda; the Vice President of the Malaga Provincial Council, Juan Carlos Maldonado and the Mayor of the Malaga City Council, Francisco de La Torre.
On the part of the clubs, The event was attended by Xavier Rieiro, director of the Barça entity’s Sports Commission, and Iván Antoñanzas, from the Rioja club. Both have had nice words for their rival on February 13, the first highlighting the absence of Olga García, former Barça player and current Logroño player, who is recovering from the cruciate ligament injury he suffered last December.
Luis Rubiales wished both contestants luck, but he has not revealed the time when the grand final will be played, postponed last year due to the outbreak of the pandemic. “Barça is a titan. I am sure that soon in Europe you will also give us great joy. Equally there is no women’s club with a progression like yours, that of Logroño. You are a reference. Disputing a Cup against Barça is a difficult undertaking but I am convinced that you are going to do it, “said the president of the RFEF, the last to speak.
Before that, several of the politicians attending this presentation of the final of the Copa de la Reina appeared, both from the Junta de Andalucía and the Málaga City Council. Juan Carlos Maldonado, vice president of the city council, has valued the organization of the event: “We want women to have the same opportunities in sport and this event motivates us to continue organizing these types of activities.” Others like Imbroda, Minister of Education and Sports, have wanted to remember the female Málaga, the first Andalusian team that won the Queen’s Cup, back in 1998.
Reference to the players’ statement
While Luis Rubiales spoke of Barcelona, finalist of the trophy together with Logroño, the president of the RFEF has wanted to defend that until now “90% of women’s soccer matches have been played” of their competitions, also remembering the consequences of the storm Filomena. And is that the COVID-19 protocol has been called into question in recent days due to the large number of postponed matches accumulated by Primera Iberdrola, which even caused a statement of complaint from the players. Rubiales has asked for understanding, while speaking directly to Xavier Rieiro, representative of Barça, the team most affected by the postponements: “I know there are times when the players want more and we are going to do it and make an effort, but we have also had Filomena, we are making a great effort”.