Football

wow, now watch for some serious grade A corruption to kick in to prevent this from happening.
Something similar once happened in Brazil with one of the big teams there in the early 90's. The team (i can't remember who) was relegated and then the brazilian F.A. chnaged the relegation rules so that the average points each team had over the last three seasons was the deciding factor not actual points. They stayed up!

Relegation in the Argentinian leagues is already pretty much sewn up so that the big clubs don't go down. Relegation is worked out over a three season average, meaning a big club would need to have a catastrophic run to even end up in a playoff. That River are in this position really shows how far they have fallen and its been a malaise that has happened over a longer period than three years. The playoff game then becomes the safety net for the big sides in case of such a catastrophe. Anything could be going on with the FA and referee, but it would definitely been seen as an embarrasment for Argentinian football if they did go down.

I've seen Belgrano play before and they weren't great. They're by no means a small club but River really should be beating them.

As for Brazil, its quite different now. Was it Palmerias who were relegated quite recently?

• avid Tim Vickery reader