Rafael Nadal for Real, Uncle Toni for Barca - "Our whole family is split in two"
Toni Nadal wants to move into the presidium of FC Barcelona. With his nephew Rafael , ardent supporter of Real Madrid, that would not create any problems, Uncle Toni assured in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung .
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Nov 26, 2020, 06:22 pm
The football world may have paused briefly in view of the death of Diego Maradona, but of course the game continues in all leagues. For FC Barcelona, which was the measure of all things in Europe until a few years ago, things are not going well at the moment. Neither athletically nor financially, the club is tormented by poor results and high debts. Toni Nadal, former coach of his nephew Rafael and now head of the academy in Manacor, supports one of the nine candidates for the office of president at FC Barcelona. Nothing could be further from Rafa - he is known to be very closely connected to Real Madrid, the big rival.
Toni assured in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung that this does not cause any problems within the family. "Our whole family is divided into two parts. One half sympathizes with Madrid, the other half with Barça. There is no bad blood there," said Uncle Toni with Javier Caceres. And also that great emotions are inevitable. "What upset Rafa recently about the video referee when there were three penalties against Real Madrid in Valencia! And the Clásicos suffered, of course. I especially remember that Clásico from 2017, when we sat in Monte Carlo and Messi scored the winning goal in the last minute. Rafa won the tournament on the same day and then Clásico almost ruined his day . "
Toni Nadal likes the new Davis Cup format
Actually, the Spanish tennis players these days shouldn't be occupied with football, but with defending the Davis Cup title. Alone: The final tournament in the Caja Magical, organized by Barca icon Gerard Piqué, will be canceled in 2020. Toni Nadal has no doubts that the path that the ITF took with regard to their most traditional team competition last year is the right one. "I like the new format of the Davis Cup. The change was inevitable because the best players in the world no longer took part in the Davis Cup."
However, it is questionable whether Madrid will not remain a one-time pleasure in 2019. Because with the ATP Cup at the beginning of 2020, the ATP created facts that the ITF has to nibble on. Even if the newly created team tournament in 2021 is on the brink due to the corona pandemic. The date (January) and the venue (Australia) of the ATP Cup is definitely superior to that of the Davis Cup final tournament.