Spanish soccer club tells Argentine Association to pay for player injury

The president of Spanish soccer club, Atletico de Madrid, Enrique Cerezo, on Friday demanded that the Argentine Football Association (AFA) pay the medical costs for Maximiliano Rodriguez, injured during a Argentina national team match.

Rodriguez suffered a ligament injury in his left knee during an Argentina-Spain friendly match on Wednesday in the Spanish city of Murcia, which Argentina lost 1-2. Rodriguez will probably not play for another six months.

"We hand a player over to the AFA in perfect health, and this is how they return him to us. We are now suffering serious harm because Maxi, who is an important player for us, will not play for six months."

Cerezo said that Atletico was "delighted" to be able to lend players to national teams for serious competitions. "It seems perfectly fine to me to lend them when they are playing a World Cup qualifier, a European Cup or a Copa Americana," he said.

However, he would do all in his power not to lend players for friendlies, Cerezo said.

"We do not know how much money we have lost... but we want (the AFA) to work with us," he said.

It is the second time that Rodriguez has been injured while playing for the national team. Last year he could not play for four months because of a different injury.

Source: Xinhua