La desescalada del fútbol

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), through circular 66, has published the agreements adopted by the Delegate Commission of the General Assembly last Friday, May 8, where the new framework applicable to football is established to finish the competitions of the 2019/2020 season. Consequently, we proceed to list the main modifications.

A)    Competition

-        Non-professional state competitions

The declines in non-professional state competitions are cancelled, that is, nobody will descend from Second B to Third, nor from Third to Division of Honour or Preferred Regional, according to the Autonomous Community.

In order to determine the final classification of the official non-professional competitions at the state level, the classification of the last matchday played will be applied. If any team has any matches pending, the best coefficient criterion will be applied. The Single Football Competition Judge of the RFEF will be responsible for determining the final classifications of all competitions and divisions.

Remember that this is only for state-level competitions, so it must be seen what each autonomous federation determines for its competitions.

-        Promotion to Second Division

The competition is terminated and the play-offs will be played by the top 4 finishers, in a single venue, in a single match and with a minimum interval of 72 hours between matches. The pairing and promotion system will be the traditional one.

In the event of a tie at the end of regulation time, there will be overtime and penalties.

-        Promotion to Second B

The play-off will be played by the first 4 of each of the 18 groups. Due to the volume of teams (72), and the impossibility of concentrating them in a single venue such as in the play-off of Segunda B, the RFEF has decided that the qualifying rounds will first take place between the groups themselves in a single venue chosen by each autonomic federation. For example: Group IX of the Third that includes teams from Malaga, Granada, Almería and Jaén, and whose four classified are Linares Deportivo, C.D. El Ejido 2012, C.F. Motril and Real Jaén, will play a first round of qualifying rounds, including four at the venue determined by the Royal Andalusian Football Federation, which will face Linares-Real Jaén and El Ejido-Motril, and the winners will compete for the place in a final. In the event of a tie, the player with the best qualifying position would have passed. The final winner will be the team that advances to Second B.

After this phase there will be 18 promoted teams, to complete the 20, the RFEF will award 2 additional places among the top-ranked non-promoted, with criteria that will depend on the number of top non-promoted and may carry out further qualifying rounds. If there is only one non-promoted first, that one will be selected and the other position will be vacant.

-        Women's Football

The competition is considered over, both in the First Iberdrola and for the second category, the so-called Iberdrola Challenge, maintaining the results obtained on the last day before the suspension. So, in the absence of official confirmation, FC Barcelona would be proclaimed champion.

In both categories, there will be no drops. The teams that will advance to the First Iberdrola will be the first two of each group in the Iberdrola Challenge.

-        Lower categories organised by the RFEF

All competitions in lower categories at the state level are completed, with the final classification being that of the last day played. If in any competition there are teams with fewer matches, the classification will be obtained by the system with the best coefficient.

In these competitions, there will be no promotions or descents. For example, next year the same teams in the Youth Honour Division will repeat.

B)    Matches

-        Matches

The dispute of matches is subject to the authorisation of the Ministry of Health or the competent authorities. Likewise, it is established that all the remaining games of the season will be played without an audience.

For professional matches, it is established that all appropriate measures will be taken to end the competition. In non-professional competitions it is established that the appropriate measures will be taken to finish the competitions in the shortest time possible and with the fewest number of teams possible, reducing to the play-offs, the only match.

For professional competitions, it will be agreed with the Laliga.

-        Changes in the rules of substitutions and calls.

It is agreed that for the remaining professional competition matches the number of substitutions per match will go from 3 to 5. Likewise, the calls for the remaining First and Second Division matches may be made up of twelve substitutes. In the remaining competitions, the call will be made up of 9 substitutes.

-        Hydration and refreshment breaks

In all the remaining official matches there will be at least a hydration break of no more than one minute.

It is also foreseen that the referee, depending on the weather conditions, may order a pause in the match to refresh the players. These breaks will be two for matches one at 30 minutes of the first part and another at 30 minutes of the second, as has already been done in the professional matches that are played in the summer.

C)    Promotion and descent of referees

It is established that the referees this season cannot be demoted, respecting the promotions established at the end of the season. So next year in some competitions we will have a higher number of referees than in a normal season.

From Balms Abogados we remain at your disposal to resolve any question that may arise regarding the application of these new RFEF measures in relation to your club.