Celta Vigo’s LaLiga season opener against Osasuna has been postponed after a fungus outbreak severely damaged the playing surface at Estadio de Balaídos.
The match, originally scheduled for Sunday, was called off after an inspection found that the condition of the pitch had deteriorated despite efforts by Celta to treat the problem. LaLiga said the decision was agreed upon by the clubs and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), citing an illness affecting the stadium’s playing surface.
The two clubs, however, disagree over when the postponed fixture should be played.
Osasuna said Celta had worked to address the fungus and that it understood why the original match could not go ahead. The club claimed, however, that the two teams had agreed to reschedule the game for September 24 or 25, during the international break.
According to Osasuna, that arrangement would have limited the impact on both teams’ schedules and provided players with additional recovery time early in the season.
LaLiga and the RFEF instead scheduled the match for August 27. Osasuna said the decision was made without its consent, despite league and federation officials being aware of the agreement between the clubs.
“The team most affected by the initial postponement for reasons beyond its control is again the most affected by the new schedule,” Osasuna said.
The club also criticized the timing of the postponement, arguing that the decision came only three days before kickoff and reflected what it described as a broader pattern of late calendar changes.
Celta said LaLiga had inspected the pitch the previous week and approved the work being carried out to eliminate the disease. However, the club said recent weather conditions slowed the recovery of the field and ultimately made postponement unavoidable.
The pitch was inspected again by league officials on Wednesday before the decision was finalized.
While both clubs accepted that the damaged surface made the original fixture impossible, Osasuna remains unhappy with the replacement date. The dispute now centers on whether the match should be played on August 27 or moved to the September international break.
Osasuna ended its statement with a pointed criticism of the league’s handling of the situation: “This is not football — it’s La Liga.”