La Liga president rejects Courtois' plea to delay Real Madrid's 25-26 opener for more rest time

Hamilton Spectator

11-07-2025

NEW YORK (AP) — Spanish league president Javier Tebas rejected Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois' plea to postpone the team's 2025-26 opener to give players time to rest following the expanded Club World Cup.
Real Madrid was eliminated with a 4-0 semifinal loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday and will have a 41-day offseason before their La Liga opener against Osasuna on Aug. 19.
Tebas said the decision not to move the opener was made by the Spanish Football Federation and La Liga agreed with it. He said players were to have 21 days off and 21 days of preseason training.
'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,' he said through a translator during a Friday interview with The Associated Press. 'So I don't believe that we should change the calendar for that reason, especially thinking that it's a matter of one day.'
Real Madrid played 68 competitive matches in a season that started Aug. 18: 38 in the league, 14 in the Champions League, six each in the Copa del Rey and the Club World Cup, two in the Spanish Super Cup and one apiece in the European Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup.
PSG will play its 65th game in Sunday's Club World Cup final and Chelsea its 64th. PSG opens its season from Aug. 15-17 at Nantes and Chelsea starts against Crystal Palace on Aug. 17.
'It's always the same for La Liga,' Courtois said Wednesday. 'To listen those comments from a president it's something that I haven't seen it in Italy, or in England, nor the NBA and NFL. It's fine if Tebas doesn't like the Club World Cup, but it exists. It's part of the FIFA calendar. We're here competing, and it seems this gentleman just wants to be the focus. I've never seen a president of another competition speak like that. The players' heath is on the line.'
On other topics:
Real Madrid causing problems
Tebas said Real Madrid seeking its own path rather than working collectively with La Liga is his biggest problem.
'They don't actually understand that we're a huge league and that if we will collaborate it's going to be positive for all of us,' he said. 'The believe in the Super League and in order to get a strong Super League they need a weak national league. So they are working toward that objective.'
Camp Nou renovation
Barcelona hopes to move back to Camp Nou after two seasons at the Olympic Stadium. Camp Nou's renovations are ongoing.
'They are waiting for a license that is provided by the city hall,' Tebas said. 'We believe that probably by the fourth week of the competition he should be ready to play again.'
That would put the Blaugrana on track for a mid-September return to a venue that will remain under construction.
Barcelona is on track to meeting financial guidelines that would allow them to make moves in the transfer market.
'Barcelona's financial situation is good,' Tebas said. 'They are close to acquiring all the players they want in the coming months.'
Financial monitoring rules
Tebas hopes financial monitoring rules designed to restrain deficit spending become more consistent among UEFA and the European leagues.
'I believe that they're working on the good path to harmonize all the financial workplace rules that we have in Europe with the different institutions,' he said. 'That's something that we're seeing, as well, with Premier League.'
Television marketing
La Liga's games are mostly streamed in the U.S. by ESPN, while the Premier League has a large broadcast presence on NBC and USA.
'Free-to-air always offers bigger audiences, for sure, but we don't interfere in our broadcasters' models and we're very happy the way it is being distributed,' he said. 'However, there is something else that we can add, and it's that nowadays, and thanks to social media, we can connect with million of fans through highlights and other social content.'
Unauthorized used of live broadcasts is a global issue for La Liga.
'We are working very hard to fight the piracy,' he said,. 'something that is affecting the value of our TV rights.'
___
AP Sports Writer Eric Nuñez contributed to this report.
___
AP soccer:
https://apnews.com/hub/soccer