Official statement

In response to the denial of precautionary/interim measures by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which we consider not in accordance with the law, in substance and in who has taken the decision; and given that the request for the aforementioned measures has been rejected by the court with no reasoning whatsoever,  LaLiga states:

1. It will continue with procedures in various judicial bodies since FIFA's decision on the alteration of the international match calendar transcends this specific problem; it is a clear declaration of intent to infringe on the autonomy of domestic leagues, in an abuse of rights.
2. To mitigate the irreparable damage caused by this decision that threatens the sporting integrity of our competition, we announce the following changes to the Matchday in question.
3. Request the postponement of the following matches from LaLiga Santander Matchday 4, scheduled to played on Saturday 11^th September, to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF):
   • Villarreal CF vs Deportivo Alaves
   • Sevilla FC vs FC Barcelona

1. Modify the dates and times of the remaining LaLiga Santander Matchday 4 matches:
   • Saturday, 6.30pm | Levante UD vs Rayo Vallecano
   • Saturday, 9pm | Athletic Club vs RCD Mallorca
   • Sunday, 2pm | RCD Espanyol de Barcelona vs Atletico de Madrid
   • Sunday, 4.15pm | CA Osasuna vs Valencia CF
   • Sunday, 6.30pm | Cadiz CF vs Real Sociedad
   • Sunday, 9pm | Real Madrid vs RC Celta
   • Monday, 8pm | Getafe CF vs Elche CF
   • Monday, 10pm | Granada CF vs Real Betis

3. Additionally, LaLiga has offered clubs charter flights for affected players travelling for international duty.

We emphasize that, due to FIFA’s decision, the affected players will rejoin their club teams on Friday after having played three games, and many of them will play league matches on Saturday or Sunday, clearly not being in a position to compete under equal conditions with their clubs.

LaLiga submitted this request to the CAS in defence of the integrity of the LaLiga competition and the rights of clubs affected by players being called up for international duty with CONMEBOL national teams, due to the two-day extension of the FIFA period in September and October 2021.

Other confederations such as UEFA and CONCACAF did not extend their match calendar despite scheduling the same number of matches (three). These confederations made the effort to adapt their fixture schedule to a maximum of 10 days (until Wednesday), so as not to disrupt national league competitions. In addition, this problem occurs after the domestic leagues, together with their clubs, already made an effort to admit a new FIFA window (for all confederations except UEFA) in January 2022, to accommodate match dates previously affected by the pandemic.

We will encounter this senseless situation once again in October, this time affecting Matchday 9 of LaLiga Santander.