Spanish football club Zaragoza filed for protection from creditors under Spanish bankruptcy law on Wednesday.
The Spanish topflight club announced that it was in danger of a ''cash flow'' problem due to a debt of ?110 million ($146.57 million).
The club said that its financial difficulties stemmed from its ''relegation three seasons ago, and the economic effort made to return to the first division just one season later.''
''The club was able to stabilize its debt by the end of the 2009-10 season, but it had been impossible to reduce it,'' Zaragoza said in a statement.
Earlier this year, fellow topflight Spanish club Getafe charged that Zaragoza was overdue on a transfer payment for Nigeria striker Ikechukwu Uche. The two clubs eventually reached an agreement out of court.
Zaragoza barely escaped the drop again last season in the final round.
In 2004, Union Deportivo Las Palmas became the first Spanish club to seek bankruptcy protection. Since then, a number of clubs have had to take similar measures to remain solvent. Mallorca sought bankruptcy protection in the summer of 2010 and saw it's place in the Europa League taken away after it had finished in fifth place.
