By David Gold
August 24 – La Liga’s new 11pm kick off time has come under attack from all sides following the start of the season.
Deportivo de La Coruña beat Osasuna 2-0 and Rayo Vallecano defeated Granada 1-0 on Monday night (August 20), but both games kicked off at the unusually late time.
Fans at Deportivo’s Estadio Riazor held up signs attacking the new kick off times, with one reading “I hate modern football, I hate television”.
At Rayo Vallecano there were signs attacking the vice-president of the Spanish Football League (LFP), Javier Tebas.
Other games kicking off at 11pm recorded dreadful attendances this week.
Real Zaragoza attracted far fewer than usual, just 11,000, to watch their match against Real Valladolid, while only a few hundred more saw Real Mallorca take on Espanyol.
By comparison Levante did well to get more than 14,000 through the gates for their late kick off against Atlético Madrid.
Málaga coach Manuel Pellegrini was particularly critical of the new schedule, saying, “We will have an extremely complicated recuperation thanks to the extremely bizarre television programme.”
The Andalusians will face Real Mallorca at 11pm tomorrow night, before taking on Greek club Panathinaikos in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League qualifier on Tuesday (August 28).
“We will see if in all of the Champions League someone has Barça, Madrid or Valencia playing at 11pm on a Saturday followed by a Champions League game on a Tuesday,” Pellegrini (pictured below, left) charged.
“We will see if they give them the same treatment that they are giving Malaga.”
Valencia’s Portuguese full back João Pereira added: “In Portugal it’s considered late if a game kicks off at 9.15pm.
“The game finishes at a time when people should be sleeping…how can a child of 10 years old go to a game at that time?
“It’s not good for football.”
There are nine different kick off times now under the complicated La Liga television scheduling.
The kick off times were part of the dispute between 13 clubs in the league and two broadcasters, Mediapro and Canal+, which almost led to a strike and the postponement of the start of the season last weekend.
The kick off times are set to return to a more normal schedule in September.
The Spanish league say the reason for the late kick offs is to ensure that the season gets underway at the same time as other major European leagues, while protecting players from the heat.
The stifling temperatures have been an issue elsewhere in Europe, but in France last weekend games were instead paused halfway through each half due to the sweltering heat.
However, Spain is usually hotter than most European countries, with temperatures in Malaga, for example, set to hit 33 degrees Celsius this weekend.
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