2020-04-17T07:10:00
Spain
The current pandemic has caused the general suspension of all soccer competitions (whether professional, amateur or youth). This suspension and the eventual “resumption” or “cancellation” has prompted all affected parties to explore different alternatives both legally and from the point of view of sport fairness.
The current pandemic has caused the general suspension of all soccer competitions (whether professional, amateur or youth). This suspension and the eventual “resumption” or “cancellation” has prompted all affected parties to explore different alternatives both legally and from the point of view of sport fairness.
In professional soccer, the Monitoring Committee for the Royal
Spanish Soccer Federation (“RFEF”) and the Spanish Professional
Soccer League (“LNFP”), established under the current RFEF-LNFP
Coordination Agreement, is working on a series of measures that affect the
calendar and the tables of professional competitions in the 2019-2020 season.
At this stage, the wish of the various parties involved (and of the
supranational bodies managing soccer) is to end professional competitions as
soon as possible (if the pandemic permits).
Regarding non-professional soccer, the RFEF has publicly announced a
round of consultations with the chairs of the regional federations. The aim is
to bring the 2019-2020 season to an end for non-professional competitions
(Second Division B, Third Division, state-wide competitions in women’s soccer,
indoor soccer and national youth categories) through a uniform model in all
autonomous regions.
The RFEF’s proposal plans to end the regular season and adopt an
express promotion mechanism using a single-match play-off system. This seeks to
guarantee at least the same number of promotions as planned at the start of the
competition (but with no relegations).
According to the RFEF, this would require specific mechanisms to
increase the number of teams per group or the creation of new groups. The
announcement indicates that this system would only be in place for the next
three or four seasons at the most.
The RFEF, which had previously shown its opposition to finishing the
season without having played all the scheduled matches, is now considering
other alternatives—including the cancellation of competitions—in light of the
current situation and to protect the health of non-professional players. After
analyzing the legal consequences of an early end to the season, the RFEF has
understood that the best way to protect the parties’ interests (including the
national and regional federations), while ensuring legal certainty for all
participants, is to reward (through promotion) and not to penalize (through
relegation).
Now it only remains to see whether the RFEF adopts the measure—and
if it sets a precedent for the first- and second-division professional
competitions.