Salgado rules out fiscal obligations behind La Liga return; feels safe in Dubai

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Former Real Madrid and Celta Vigo player Michel Salgado ruled out the theory of fiscal obligations behind the resumption of Spanish League after the country was badly hit by coronavirus recently.

A derby between Sevilla and Real Betis will set the ball rolling to kick-start the action at Spanish League, which springs back to life after a three-month hiatus.

“I don’t think it is sorely because of financial obligations. People are talking about financial but it is just a part of it. Business is a part of football. But in Spain, football is the life, Sports is the life. We cannot live without sports, particularly football.

“We cannot live indoor for the whole life. Sports are going to keep us healthy. We implement that in the rules. I would prefer to die than to live like that forever,” said Salgado, who was speaking on the sidelines of a forum held under the theme ‘Return of Spectators to Sports Stadiums,’ and organized by Dubai Sports Council (DSC).

Spain was the second worst-hit European country after Italy, which was most affected by COVID-19, literally bringing the nation down on its knees. However, like all the great nations, Spain once again showed the fighting spirit and rebounded from the plethora of crises.

Just after three months after going through such a big crises, they are all set to restart their league in a bid to bring the life back to normalcy.

“It means a lot. It was big struggle for the country and it was a big struggle for the people. It is not only about entertainment but it will bring the confidence back into the people.

“It will bring the happiness into the houses. It will bring a smile back on the face of children. To be honest, it is a big news,” added Salgado.

“I think it is the right time to resume the league. We can not wait for the virus forever and the virus can not beat us. We nened to be united and learn from the our past mistakes.

“I know one Champions League match is beleieved to be main reason for the spread of virus in Italy. But at that time precautionary measure were not taken. But now we are ready and planning to bring fans back to the stadium in two three weeks.

Salgado, who is a Dubai resident and works with DSC on a number of initiatives, lost his father-in-law, former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz, to Coronavirus in March, and Spain, his home country, was one of the worst-hit nations as the pandemic brought life to a halt around the globe.

"I feel really blessed to be living here in Dubai with my family through COVID-19,” he said.

"I felt really secure - not just me but my entire family - especially when you compare to what happened in my home country Spain.

"Spain was hit really hard by COVID-19, including my wife’s family. As you all know, I lost my father-in-law, who was the former president of Real Madrid.

"So I want to thank the authorities here in Dubai and the UAE for their big effort and for making us feel really secure during these tough moments and days.

"I also want thank Dubai Police and DSC for organizing this amazing forum and giving me an opportunity to share my thoughts on this wonderful platform with colleagues from many different sports present here,” he added.

"One of the biggest things that we missed during the lockdown -- apart from our families if we were away from them -- is sport. We cannot live without our sport. It’s our activation -- sport activates our body and our mind.

“That’s why I was desperate to get our academies back, get our kids back to our academies to play sports again because the kids were really struggling a lot, stuck at home without sports,” stressed Salgado.

"We are all responsible to get sports back, with health and with security. Why? Because sport is a big part of our life for so many reasons.

“First of all, it is education for our kids. Secondly, sport is competition and entertainment, and that is a big part of our life as well. So we need to make sure our fans are back in the stands, safe and healthy,” he concluded.