A judge from the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has declined Real Madrid’s request to delay their start to the 2025–26 La Liga season.
Madrid argued they had been denied the “minimum period of rest and preparation” after being booked to start the new season just 41 days after their Club World Cup campaign came to a close, with club officials insisting they were entitled to at least another 24 hours of preparation before their opening fixture against Osasuna, currently scheduled for Aug. 19.
RFEF judge José Alberto Peláez did not entertain Madrid’s pleas and has rejected their request to delay the Osasuna game.
Peláez ruled that the Madrid squad have received the minimum period of 21 uninterrupted days of rest and argued that suggestions of another 21 days needed for physical preparations for the new season are not part of the regulations.
Madrid have 48 hours to lodge an appeal and, according to Mundo Deportivo, they will do exactly that.
The ruling insisted the Madrid squad is big enough to deal with any hectic periods of fixtures and, given the Club World Cup was scheduled well in advance, Los Blancos could have taken more steps to prepare for the new season if they truly felt they were necessary.
“I believe that they will have 20 days to rest instead of 21 and no other leagues like the Premier League for Chelsea or the French Ligue 1 for PSG are changing the games,” La Liga president Javier Tebas said of the controversy earlier this summer.
“So I don’t believe that we should change the calendar for that reason, especially thinking that it’s a matter of one day.”
Osasuna have shown far more sympathy. The club’s long-serving goalkeeper Sergio Herrera told El Larguero: “The club and the players were willing to help Real Madrid, and it wasn’t a problem to lend a hand to our teammates because there might not be enough time for rest and preparation for the match.”
“From my point of view, I think it’s detrimental to Real Madrid and also to us because we don’t have the same recovery time as Valencia for the next match at El Sadar,” Herrera continued. “Anyone with a bit of common sense would understand that time isn’t enough for Real Madrid to reach 100%.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Real Madrid to Appeal After Controversial La Liga Scheduling Blow.