Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 9y

Almeria still to hear if they face points deduction in La Liga

Almeria president Alfonso Garcia says he still does not know whether or not his team will be docked three points -- a decision which looks likely to influence which three teams are relegated from Spain's top flight in the coming weeks.

In early March, FIFA announced that Almeria were to have the the three points removed from this season's tally as punishment for the late payment of a relatively small sum due to Danish club Aalborg relating to the transfer of defender Michael Jakobsen in the summer of 2012.

The Andalusian club quickly announced they would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), however latest published list of hearings at CAS does not mention the case in its schedule running until June 2015.

A quick resolution is especially important as Almeria are currently involved in a tight battle against relegation. They sit in 16th position on 32 points but if the points are taken away then they would be in 18th place and within the drop zone with just three games left to play.

Asked about reports of a hearing of the case on May 20 after Monday's 2-2 draw at home to Celta Vigo, Garcia told Marca that he had received no official confirmation, but would of course be willing to go if that does happen.

"We do not know anything officially," he said. "We have received nothing at the club. If they call us, of course we will go, with the lawyers who are looking after the case."

Jakobsen joined Almeria from Aalborg in 2010, initially on loan, and spent two years at the Estadio Juegos Mediterraneos, before leaving for FC Copenhagen in 2012. The whole case appears to revolve around an interest payment of less than 5,000 euros on the extra fee of 50,000 euros due to Aalborg for developing the player.

Garcia said the whole issue was hard to believe given how common it was in football for clubs to owe much larger sums and not be punished nearly as hastily.

"It seems like a lie that this is the best league in the world, the most competitive and with the most successful teams in Europe, and that this happens for a laughably small sum," he said. "With clubs all over the world owing thousands of euros, for different reasons, and the millions of cases there are in FIFA, I do not understand how they came to resolve this so quickly, for an interest payment of €4,500."

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