León remains sidelined due to registration impasse

Pedro León will be watching from the stands on Sunday as Getafe take on Atlético Madrid at the Coliseum. It has now been 75 days since the former Real Madrid midfielder last turned out for the southern Madrid side in a pre-season friendly against Mallorca.

Since then, León's curious case has been well-documented. After being asked by Getafe to take a pay cut on his 2.7-million-euro salary, León was omitted from the squad list for the 2014-15 season as his wages would have pushed Getafe above their 17-million-euro budget limit imposed by the Professional Football League under new financial regulations. Since the September 1 deadline for doing so, the LFP has refused to register the player. Alongside Jordi Codina, who has also been cast into the cold by club president Ángel Torres for not leaving during the summer, León is in professional limbo.

Sunday's game is a big one for Getafe; a local derby against the Liga champion, and the side's best player will not be on the pitch. In a little over two months León has gone from being the club's best-paid player and talisman to an outcast. It is similar to relieving Atlético of Koke or Arda Turan, or seeing Leo Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo sit out the Clasico, such is his value to the team.

Last week, the Association of Professional Footballers' president, Luis Rubiales, went to the Coliseum to explain León's case to his teammates. The matter is in the hands of the courts and as things stand León's only chance of getting a game is to sign for another club in December.

León has kept his counsel since the matter came to light on September 1. Since then, he has not given any interviews or appeared in the Getafe press room. This silence is probably on the recommendation of his lawyers. However, León has occasionally taken to the social networks, as on September 9 when he left a message for Torres: "I could never have imagined that you could become so ruinous and such a liar," he wrote, deleting the message the following day.

from Últimas noticias | Diario AS http://ift.tt/1tt4v6Z

via IFTTT