Real Madrid game won't be cancelled, insists Girona president

Girona president Delfi Geli dismissed reports that Sunday's match with Real Madrid could be postponed in the wake of the Catalan government's declaration of independence, insisting it will be played "normally".

A Spanish radio station reported on Thursday that the match could be halted by authorities due to an apparent possibility of violence and protests in the Catalan town.

Catalan MPs backed a motion to secede from Spain 70-10 after a controversial referendum delivered an outcome overwhelmingly in favour of a split earlier this month.

Spain's Constitutional Court declared that vote illegal and the Senate announced on Friday, shortly after Catalonia's declaration, that measures had been approved for the imposition of direct rule over the region.

But Girona are adamant that there is no such danger of their match being cancelled, insisting that they are preparing for the contest to go ahead "with all normality".

Geli told Radio COPE: "We are preparing for the game to be played.

"It will be played with all normality and will be a football festival.  The fans are waiting for the visit of Real Madrid and they want to enjoy Girona in LaLiga.

"They are a very important visitor to our stadium, one of the best clubs in the world, and what we all want is to see Girona face Madrid. It will be another experience that our fans have in Montilivi."

Girona's mayor, Marta Madrenas, echoed Geli's certainty that there are no fears of violence.

"In Girona we are, as in all of Catalonia, absolutely civil and responsible people," Madrenas said to TV3. "There is no reason to fear that there are any problems, beyond the usual, that football fans will not behave as they should.

"But beyond this, of the normality of any other football game, it's ridiculous. We are civilized people."