The calendar of the next season is a puzzle for the organizers. The Qatar World Cup will force the First Division to stop for a month between November and December, which will cause a mess. It will only be the highest category, as reported by AS on March 10, that will put the brakes on, the Second will continue to be played at the same time as the World Cup.
The First and Second Division Boards approved on March 10 their calendar proposals for the next season. A draft that was agreed with the AFE soccer players union and that was transferred to the Spanish Soccer Federation, which would have proposed to the employer to stop the silver category during the World Cup event (from November 21 to December 18). In the vote for the Second Division calendar, the clubs approved by a very large majority, as confirmed by LaLiga to AS, that the competition should not stop. In total, of the 22 teams that voted, there were only two that voted against playing, one of them Valladolid. They understand that it hardly affects them, since only around five players of the 500 who will be registered will come to Qatar. In addition, it is a great opportunity to increase their audiences and the spectators who go to the stadiums as there is no competition with the First Division matches.
What’s more, during the selection breaks of the seasons, the Second Division has never stopped. Even on those occasions, the FIFA virus affected the World Cup more than is expected. Since not all the teams will attend the World Cup and the lower categories of the teams will not be summoned either, which usually affects the Second to a great extent. What’s more, LaLiga usually uses the team breaks in the First Division to program the most relevant matches, such as derbies, on LaLiga SmartBank so that they have a greater audience on television.
In the event that the idea of the RFEF persisted in stopping the Second during the World Cup and that LaLiga, as the clubs voted, decided to continue betting on playing, the calendar would suffer a blockage as in recent years. In recent summers, the Higher Sports Council has had to mediate and rule on several of the conflicts between employers and the Federation when it comes to configuring the First and Second calendar.