The 2022-23 season begins to take shape. The First and Second Division clubs have approved the calendar for next season at the LaLiga Division Boards that has been negotiated from the employers’ association with the AFE soccer players’ union. The start is set for August 12 and the end of the campaign for June 4later than usual because in November and December the competition will stop for the World Cup in Qatar. Of course, it is not the official calendar yet, since the definitive approval corresponds to the RFEF and in recent years there has been no consensus.
LaLiga intends to start the next campaign on the weekend of August 12, a few weeks later than the Premier League (August 6). It will be a difficult season. In addition to the existence of team breaks, the competition must also be stopped for a month due to the World Cup in Qatar, which will be from November 21 to December 18. Luis Enrique will only have a week to concentrate his team before the World Cup event, since the First Division will not stop until November 13, when the last day before the break is played.
And here comes the first dilemma. As confirmed by various sources to AS, LaLiga is talking to the clubs to find a solution with the players who do not leave with their national teams, which will be the majority. Although the plan is to give them a few days of vacation at the beginning, it is about finding a way for them to remain ‘active’ during that month. One possibility they are friendly with each other. For example, Serie A is working on organizing a parallel tournament with the clubs and their players who remain. In addition, the idea would help them in their international expansion, since they are considering holding the tournament in the United States, a market in which LaLiga has been pressing in recent years to have more presence and increase its income from audiovisual rights.
There will be no Spanish Boxing Day next season. The Christmas dates for footballers continue to be respected, the return to training will be from the 26th and LaLiga will not resume until December 29. It will be at the end of the year (date already used in recent seasons) when the ball rolls again in the First Division after more than a month stopped by the World Cup in Qatar. The Super Cup will be played in January and the bulk of the Cup as well. And thathe first rounds of the KO tournament, as First Division teams are involved, will not be played during the World Cup in Qatar, according to federative sources to this newspaper.
The end of the season is set later than usual due to the need to win weeks to be able to fit in all the competitions. The last day will take place on June 4, a week before the Champions League final. and the start of the Nations League. All this bobbin lace approved by the clubs, after the consensus of the footballers’ union with LaLiga, needs the last approval of the Federation. Which they have not had in recent seasons and have ended up facing each other. In those cases, the Higher Sports Council had to mediate in the middle of summer to be able to unlock the calendar and raffle the days. Now the RFEF has the ball on its court.