Real Madrid refuse Bernabeu as venue for King's Cup final

Real Madrid President Florentino Perez has said the Spanish footbtall club's home ground, the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, would not be available for the King's Cup final.

The final will be played between FC Barcelona and Deportivo Alaves on May 27, reports Xinhua.

Perez said on Thursday the final could not be played in Real Madrid's ground, which is the largest neutral ground available for the game "because there's work going on ... there's no other issue".

It is the fourth time in the past five seasons that Madrid have refused to allow their ground to be used for the final and coincidently in all of those seasons their bitter rivals FC Barcelona have been one of the finalists.

Meanwhile Alaves' owner Alaves owner Josean Querejeta, said he would like the game to be played in Athletic Club Bilbao's San Mames Stadium, which he declared would be "would be perfect for our fans".

"It is the closest stadium for our fans to travel to and a lot of our supporters would be able to go. It's a modern stadium and it's a famous landmark in the Basque country.

"I believe Athletic fans would be thrilled to have a Basque team playing the final in San Mames and I don't think Athletic would have any problems with the final being played there," he said.

Rock group Guns and Roses are due to play in San Mames on May 30 with the concert organisers saying they need a week to prepare for the concert and if the Cup final were to be held on the Saturday night it would leave them just two days to do so.

Perez also presented on Thursday a book named "La Undecima, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup", which details Real Madrid's quest for their 11th Champions League title in 2016.

The presentation, which took place in the presidential box at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, highlighted the trophies amassed by Real Madrid in 2016, when they won their 11th Champions League title, the UEFA Super Cup, and the Club World Cup.

According to the club's official website, Perez believes that "La Undecima has once again shown that it is the culmination of a common dream."

"This book reflects our genetics, and it is only through this that we can explain our particular alliance with the European Cup, which we share with all followers across every continent," he added.

The author of the book, journalist Enrique Ortego, said that his work focuses on Real Madrid's trifold achievement, "the three titles from another historic year, with a nod and a wink to the other 10 European Cups."

--IANS

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