Real Betis Balompié and Sevilla Fútbol Club already know when it will start rolling LaLiga EA Sports 2026/2027. It will begin the weekend of August 15-16according to the resolution of the arbitration to which LaLiga and the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE) have been submitted, known this Monday, union sources confirmed.
The referee has decided that the start will be according to LaLiga’s approach and not the one made by the union, which proposed that it be the August 23 before the celebration of the World Cup and its impact on the return to their clubs of a large number of players from the Spanish competition.
AFE sources confirmed the arbitration resolution, in accordance with LaLiga’s proposals both on the date of the beginning of the competition and also on the date of the end of the Second Division, which was the other point of discrepancy on which it had to rule.
LaLiga’s position is that The competition concludes on Sunday, June 6, 2027with matchday 42, and that the promotion play-off will be played between June 9 and 20, which are the dates estimated by the referee. AFE requested that the play-offs be played on Sunday the 6th, Wednesday the 9th, Sunday the 13th and Sunday the 20th of June.
AFE denounces commercial and economic interests
AFE sources regretted, in statements to EFE, that the referee had ruled in the sense of what was proposed by LaLiga and insisted that they always considered it “detrimental” to start that weekend, because with the World Cup players “do not have adequate time for preparation”.
The union questioned that “they put commercial and economic interests above health protection“and considered it necessary to sign a new First and Second agreement, “to protect, above all, the health of the footballers”, at the same time that he disagreed with the position of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for “interfering” in the calendar process in which it did not have to intervene, in favor of LaLiga.
In the absence of an agreement between the two parties, they submitted to arbitration, as stipulated in the agreement, in which AFE proposed the start of LaLiga on August 23, the second day on the weekend of August 30 and the third on Wednesday, September 2, with the end of both categories on May 30.
The union defended that The start of the season is conditioned by what happens in the World Cup which will end on July 19 and recalled that footballers have to enjoy a vacation period of at least 21 consecutive days and, after that, a preseason that allows them to face the season with sufficient preparation to preserve their physical integrity and protect them from injuries.
Pellegrini’s complaint about the possible start of the league on different dates
Once the league start has been defined, it is worth highlighting the reflection of Manuel Pellegrini faced with the possibility, as has happened, that it would be held on different dates due to the end of the World Cup and the internationals of certain teams: “It seems to me that for some reason the countries are going to start on the 22nd. Football, despite all the passion that it is, is a spectacle. It seemed to me that all the leagues were going to run the start of the championship for a week; I am surprised that it has not been done in Spain. The League will have its reasons. But The day they leave they must be together and not some first and others later“.
Options to postpone certain matches on matchday 1 depending on the number of internationals
LaLiga proposed the start of the competition for August 16, taking into account the teams with the greatest probability of reaching the semifinals and final of the 2026 World Cup, something in which work with AI. It also included keeping track of all the players from LaLiga clubs selected for the World Cup, as well as the possible signings or departures that they make and doing a study of the squads of the 20 clubs in the top category before scheduling the match.
Those clubs with a relevant number of players compared to their total squad, who have played in the semifinals and/or final of the World Cup, The matches of the first day would be postponed to Tuesday the 25th, Wednesday the 26th or Thursday the 27th of August or, if there is an express request from a club, August 18, 19 and 20 could be evaluated.
The referee’s decision considers that “LaLiga’s proposals are adjusted to lawrespond to the preservation of interests worthy of consideration and that are inserted in the scope of compliance with the legal obligation to prepare the calendar as part of the general procedure that must allow the development of the competition.” It also supports the structure of the final section of Second of the employer’s association of non-inclusion of interweekly days and the dates of the promotion playoff of this between June 9 and 20.