The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) reported this Monday that in the Second Division B A total of 102 teams will participate that will be divided into five groups -three of 20 and two of 21-, and each one will be divided into two subgroups of 10 or 11 teams each.
Also, in the Third division, the participating clubs will be divided into 18 groups according to territoriality criteria, and each of them groups will be divided into subgroups of 10, 11 or 12 teams.
Both competitions will start next October 18 and the registration of footballers can be formalized until October 5, 2020 and subsequently from January 4 to February 1, 2021, adds the RFEF.
The Federation also details that “clubs may obtain a maximum number of 22 licenses of footballers in its squad, among which there may not be more than 16 players over 23 years of age during the entire sports season ”.
Specifically in Second division B, there must be a minimum of 10 'P' category licenses throughout the season, without prejudice to the provisions of Article 121 of the General Regulations.
“Among the standards included are the possibility of seat up to nine substitutes on the bench to make up to five changes in three interruptions of the game, as well as an additional substitution in the event of an extension in the promotion play-offs before starting or at halftime ”, he points out.
It also states that “the clubs must submit certain documentation to the RFEF for informational purposes and general assessment of the economic-financial status of each of the divisions and in order to improve the control mechanisms and safeguard the interests of the competition ”.
Second B will be developed in three phases
The Second Division B It will be developed in three phases, of which the first will correspond to the regular competition, the second will cover three specific phases (Second Phase for Second Division, Second Phase for First Division RFEF and Second Phase for the permanence in Second Division RFEF) and the third will correspond to Ascent Play Off to Second Division.
The First Phase (A and B) It is configured in a total of 18 games in 18 days for groups of 20 teams and in 20 games in 22 days for groups of 21 teams, to be played in each subgroup of ten or eleven teams, each called A and B in each of the five groups. The participating clubs will face a double round by means of the points system.
The clubs that are classified in the first three places of the ten groups will access the Second stage For Second Division, those classified in positions from fourth to sixth (to 7th in the subgroups of 11 teams) will access the Second Phase for First Division RFEF and those classified from seventh to tenth place (from 8th to 11th in the subgroups of 11 teams) will access the Phase for Permanence in Second Division RFEF.
The points obtained, as well as the goals, both for and against, will be carried over to the next phase, each team beginning its specific phase with the points and goals obtained in the First Phase. In groups of 21 teams, which have a subgroup of 10 and another of 11, the coefficient will be calculated, this being the one carried over to the specific phases.
Then there will be three specific Second Phases. In the Second Phase for Second Division (C), the clubs classified in the first three positions of each subgroup will participate over six days. The teams that participated in subgroup A will face, in a double round, those that participated in subgroup B, not being able, in any case, to face the teams that participated in the same subgroup of the Regular Phase. The first three clubs classified in each group, in addition to the fourth with the best coefficient among the five groups, will participate in the Play Off for Promotion to Second Division and the remaining clubs, not classified for the Final Promotion Phase, will participate in the new First Division. RFEF Division in the next season 2021/2022.
On the other hand, in the Second Phase for First Division RFEF (D) Clubs ranked fourth through sixth from each subgroup of ten clubs and those ranked fourth through seventh from subgroups of 11 clubs will participate over eight days. The teams that participated in subgroup A will face, in a double round, those that participated in subgroup B, not being able, in any case, to face the teams that participated in the same subgroup of the Regular Phase. The first two classified clubs (7th and 8th) from each of the groups will be promoted to the RFEF First Division, while the remaining clubs, which did not obtain promotion, will participate in the RFEF Second Division in the next 2021/2022 season.
Finally, in the Second Phase for permanence (E) The clubs classified from seventh to last place in each subgroup of 10 teams and those classified from eighth to last place of the subgroups of 11 teams will participate. The teams that participated in subgroup A will face, in a double round, those that participated in subgroup B, not being able, in any case, to face the teams that participated in the same subgroup of the Regular Phase. It is configured, therefore, in a total of 8 days.
Those classified in positions from fourth to eighth (16th to 20th groups of 10 and 17th to 21st) of each group, in addition to those classified in third place (15th groups of 10 and 16th groups of 11) with the worst coefficient of all the groups, will descend to the Third Division RFEF.
The third phase will be the Play Off of Promotion to Second Division (F), that will be developed through the elimination system, a single match. 16 clubs will participate, that is, the first three classified, in addition to the fourth with the best coefficient of the five groups, which played in the Promotion Phase for Second Division (C).
It will be held in a single venue designated by the RFEF, in concentration format, and will consist of two heats in which the matches will be determined by lottery, pitting those who would have obtained a better classification against those who would have obtained a worse classification, avoiding, as far as possible, that two teams that had belonged to the same group face each other. In case of a tie in overtime, the winning team will be the one with the best classification in the second phase. There can only be penalty shootout between teams that had the same qualifying position. The four winning clubs of the second round will be promoted to Second Division and the rest will be assigned to the new First Division RFEF in the next season 2021/2022.
In Third, also three phases
The competition of Third division It will also be developed in three phases, of which, the first will correspond to the regular competition, the second will include three specific phases (Second Phase for Second Division RFEF, Second Phase for the Final Phase for Second Division RFEF and Second Phase for Permanence in Third Division RFEF) and the third will correspond to the RFEF Second Division Qualifying Final Phase / RFEF Second Division Promotion Play Off.
The First Phase or Regular League (A and B) It is configured in a total of between 18 and 22 days, to be played in each subgroup of 10 to 12 teams, each called A and B in each of the 18 groups. The participating clubs will face a double round by means of the points system.
The clubs that are classified in the first three places of the 36 subgroups will access the Second Phase for Second Division RFEF, those classified in positions from fourth to sixth will access the Second Phase for the Final Phase for Second Division RFEF / Play Off of Promotion to Second Division RFEF and those classified from seventh to last place will access the Second Phase for Permanence in Third Division RFEF.
The points obtained, as well as the goals, both for and against, will be carried forward to the next phase, each team beginning its specific phase with the points and goals obtained in the First phase. In groups of 21 and 23 teams, the coefficient will be calculated, this being the same as the one carried over to the specific phases.
As in Second Division B, in Third Division there will also be below three specific Second Phases. In the Second Phase for Second Division RFEF (C), in a total of 6 days the clubs classified in the first three places of each subgroup will participate. The teams that participated in subgroup A will face, in a double round, those that participated in subgroup B, not being able, in any case, to face the teams that participated in the same subgroup of the Regular Phase.
The top two ranked clubs from each of the eighteen groups will be promoted directly to Second Division RFEF and the rest will participate in the Final Phase of RFEF Second Division Elimination / Play Off for Promotion to RFEF Second Division.
In the Promotion Play Off Phase a Second Division RFEF (D), clubs classified from fourth to sixth place in each subgroup will participate in a total of 6 days. The teams that participated in subgroup A will face, in a double round, those that participated in subgroup B, not being able, in any case, to face the teams that participated in the same subgroup of the Regular Phase.
The first two classified clubs in each of the groups will qualify to play in the RFEF Second Division Elimination Final Phase / RFEF Second Division Promotion Play Off. The remaining clubs will participate in the Third Division RFEF in the next season 2021/2022.
Finally, in the Phase for Permanence in Third Division RFEF (E) The clubs classified from seventh to last place of each subgroup will participate in a total of 10 days for groups of 21 and 22 and 12 days for groups of 23 and 24. The teams that participated in subgroup A will face, twice return, those who participated in subgroup B, not being able, in any case, to face the teams that participated in the same subgroup of the Regular Phase.
The first four clubs classified from each of the 18 qualifying tables will obtain their permanence in Tercera División RFEF and the remaining will descend to Territorial Category. Thus practicing 5 descents in the groups of 21 teams, 6 in the groups of 22 teams, 7 in the groups of 23 teams and 8 in the groups of 24 teams.
The season in Third Division will end with the Final Phase of Promotion to Second Division RFEF / Play Off of Promotion to Second Division RFEF (F), which will be developed through the single-match elimination system, with the team with the best classification as local. A Final Phase will be played for each of the 18 groups, the winning club of each of the 18 finals obtaining their promotion. Those classified in the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th positions of Groups C and those classified in 1st and 2nd (7th and 8th) position of Groups D participate and will consist of three eliminatory rounds (quarter-finals, semi-finals and final).
The winner of each of the eighteen finals to play will be promoted to the RFEF Second Division, joining the other two teams that were promoted directly, making up a total of 54 promotions, 3 in each of the 18 Third Division groups.
Health situation
Refering to health situation, the RFEF informs that there will be a series of extraordinary provisions by the Covid-19 pandemic, starting with a ‘generic safeguard’ that indicates that “the provisions of these Rules or Competition Rules may be modified during the course of the season due to force majeure” and that it will be “the competence of the Delegate Commission of the RFEF Assembly the determination of the stoppage and / or the return to the competition in attention to the causes of force majeure that arise and its prolongation in time, except in those aspects that the competition was outside of the Competition Judge ””.
In this sense, it is specified that “force majeure causes will be accredited” when in a given territory there is a regulation or a government order, and if applicable, duly endorsed by the competent justice, which prevents the development of sports activities of federated competition, either training of any level or the dispute of matches in said territory or that the State of alarm that includes these limitations ”.
“In the event of suspension or paralysis of competitions due to force majeure rules are established for the determination of promotions, demotions and winners of competitions. As these are competitions with several phases (subgroups, groups and classification phases), if due to any force majeure circumstance the entire competition could not be completed, that is, the dispute of all the matches scheduled from the beginning, before the 30th of June, will undergo the Delegate Commission of the RFEF the specific resolution of the situation, always bearing in mind that for there to be promotions and demotions, at least 50% of the matches that correspond to play must have been completed to achieve the objective or competitive result set for the following season (promotion, relegation) and in case of equality of situations, it will be resolved by the coefficient computed in all the matches played by adding up all the phases played until the moment when it could not continue to be played, ”says the RFEF.
In the same way, it is foreseen how to act if a team or several, due to force majeure, cannot play one or more matches in the regular competition during the season and they cannot be played before the end of it; if he could not carry out the training sessions and play the matches in his field of play in the case of Second Division B; if the teams are unable to move on time or continuously to other territories in the case of the Third Division; or if there is a positive case for Covid-19 of anyone who has a sports license with the team.