La Liga winter break curtailed
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| AFP |
The traditional two-week winter break in Spain's top flight will be reduced this season in a bid to ease fixture congestion ahead of next year's UEFA EURO it was announced on Wednesday.
Just last week the league passed significant changes to the calendar to accomodate Barcelona's participation in the FIFA Club World Cup, which included moving the final round of league fixtures back a week. That decision was criticised by Spain boss Vicente del Bosque as it meant La Liga would finish on 22 May with his side's defence of the European title to start in France on 10 June.
However, an agreement between the players' union (AFE), the league and the federation means a full round of fixtures will now take place on 30 December with the final weekend of the season reverting back to its original date of 15 May. The Copa del Rey final has also been moved back to its original scheduled date of 21 May.
"The offer of the AFE to play during the Christmas break, normally a holiday period for professional football allows for an optimisation of the calendar," a statement from the Spanish sports council. "It allows the activities in the Primera Division to finish a week earlier and therefore allows Vicente del Bosque better preparation for the Spanish national team for EURO 2016."