Suspended Sevilla and Betis Cup game to resume on Sunday

Madrid (AFP) – A Copa del Rey match between local rivals Sevilla and Real Betis will resume from the 39th minute on Sunday, after it was suspended the night before due to a player being hit by an object thrown from the crowd.

The game being played at Betis’ stadium — which is all square at 1-1 — will be behind closed doors after the object, which hit Sevilla’s Joan Jordan on the head, was thrown from a Betis section of the crowd.

Jordan was taken to hospital, where Sevilla said he was diagnosed with a head injury. He is staying at home for at least 24 hours.

The Spanish football federation said Sunday was the date chosen as “it is necessary the resumption of the match takes place as soon as possible”.

On playing it behind closed doors, the federation said: “It is practical for the game to resume at the same Benito Villamarin stadium for organisation purposes, although to ensure the match ends without further incident and taking into account the seriousness of the incident, the game will resume behind closed doors without fans.”

Betis’ Nabil Fekir had just equalised straight from a corner when Jordan was struck on the head by what the Spanish federation have described as a “plastic hollow bar”, coming from a section of the stadium full of Betis fans.

After a stoppage of around 45 minutes, the federation confirmed on Saturday the last-16 game had been suspended.

Sevilla said they “disagreed” with the decision to resume on Sunday.

The club said “the sensible and fair thing, according to what a sports competition should be, would be to look for a later date in which, at least, the player who suffered the aggression can play”.

Jordan can be replaced by another Sevilla player.

Sevilla requested the game should not resume before Wednesday while Betis proposed Sunday “for reasons of logistics”.

Betis said in a statement the club “strongly condemned” the incident and had “immediately collaborated with the police to identify the alleged perpetrator”.