The Spanish title race has gone down to the wire with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla all in with a chance of taking the championship in the season’s final game. But rather than focus on the merits of the three challengers, the Spanish media has been full of talk of maletines and primas — incentive payments from third-party clubs that some say are commonplace in Spain.
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi said this week he would have no hesitation in paying Real Mallorca a “prima” to do well against Real Madrid in the final game if he were club president. Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas said he thought there was nothing wrong with them as long as they were only given to win games. Former Real forward Davor Suker claims he was paid a “prima” while playing for Sevilla.
But it should be noted that Mallorca players have denied that they will receive any bonuses for a win or a draw at the Bernabéu on Sunday, while Barcelona president Joan Laporta has said his club would never make such a payment.
When people write and say something they should know what they are talking about and if they have proof they should provide it,” said Mallorca defender Sergio Ballesteros. Im against ‘primas’ first because they are illegal and second because they cast doubt over the professionalism of the players.
Is he right?
Simon Baskett, Madrid
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4 comments so far
That’s the question they always used to ask in the Don Balon questionnaire (probably still do) and most players would say they had no problem accepting such incentives.
- Posted by Kevin FylanI don’t think it is right, but you can’t just point a finger at someone if they do it. Suppose if Real Madrid are beaten by Mallorca and Barca go on to win the title and considering how tight the race has been in the last few weeks, it would not be a surprise if Laporta decides to be generous and give them “primas.”
But, if Real manage to win, all these talks will go down the drain :))
- Posted by HarishI’m not sure it’s wrong, but I think it’s an ill-advised practice. How far down this slippery slope will it be before players expect incentives for every match.
- Posted by fionai don’t think it’s wrong as long as the “prima” is given to the winning team and not encoureage anybody to lose deliberately. it’s part of the psywar, me think.
- Posted by cahyo suseno