La Liga to inspect Celta Vigo pitch after suspected fungus ahead of season opener

La Liga officials will inspect the pitch at Celta Vigo's Estadio de Balaidos after reports of a suspected fungus outbreak ahead of Celta's La Liga 2026-27 season opener against Osasuna on Sunday; the match is scheduled to kick off at 20:30 BST and the league are due to visit the stadium in Vigo in the next 24 hours to assess whether the game can go ahead as planned.

Reports in Spain say the playing surface has been damaged by a fungus infection, with Celta Vigo believed to have asked for the fixture to be postponed; opponents Osasuna are said to be open to playing the match as scheduled. The Estadio de Balaidos has a capacity of 24,870.

Spain's national team staged a friendly against Iraq at the Estadio de Balaidos in June, a game played ahead of their successful 2026 World Cup-winning campaign over the summer.

The Balaidos has been the subject of renovation work for more than a decade and is planned to be one of the 11 Spanish stadia to co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Portugal and Morocco.

When renovation work is completed, the arena is set to increase its capacity to between 40,000 and 44,000.

Celta originally had the option to postpone the opening fixture because striker Borja Iglesias reached the World Cup final with Spain, but the club opted not to exercise that option.

Three other La Liga matches that were due to be played on the opening weekend — Valencia v Real Betis, Real Madrid v Real Sociedad and Barcelona v Athletic Club — have all been rescheduled for later in the month because the clubs involved had players participating in the World Cup final.