LaLiga's request to postpone the upcoming match between Sevilla and Barcelona due to player involvement in South American World Cup qualifiers has been dismissed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), but a "challenge" will be lodged.
An appeal was issued by LaLiga to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decision taken by FIFA to put in place a two-day extension to the CONMEBOL calendar for fixtures in September and October, a move made amid the complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Due to strict rules that would require players to quarantine for 10 days upon their return, England's Premier League refused to release nearly 60 players travelling to 26 countries on the United Kingdom's red list due to COVID-19.
LaLiga announced support to those clubs in Spain that opted not to let individuals travel to play for South American nations in upcoming qualifiers. A total of 25 players from 13 different teams were due to be involved.
The organisation also filed a lawsuit against FIFA in the Swiss courts for infraction of competition rules, adding that domestic leagues had already accepted a new window in January 2022 to accommodate matches disrupted by the global pandemic.
However, CAS denied the interim measures put forward, meaning players would have to be released, and LaLiga responded by asking for two matches – Sevilla v Barcelona and Villarreal v Deportivo Alaves on September 11 – be postponed due to players only arriving back in Spain earlier that day.
While the RFEF has rejected the request, LaLiga insists it will continue to fight for those postponements, adamant the decision "is not in accordance with the law".
A statement read: "LaLiga expresses its absolute disagreement with the resolution of the president of the Competition Committee, issued by delegation of the president of the RFEF, to reject the postponement requests submitted by both Villarreal – with respect to the Villarreal v Deportivo Alaves match set for Saturday, September 11 at 18:30 – and Sevilla – for the Sevilla v Barcelona match set for Saturday, September 11 at 21:00 – and by LaLiga, organiser of this competition.
"The reason for these requests is to be able to maintain the integrity of the competition as a consequence of the extension of the FIFA period in September (CONMEBOL confederation) established by circular 1776 of August 13, setting the end of said period on Thursday, September 9 (early morning on Friday the 10th in Europe, with many players landing in Spain on Saturday morning and having to play games hours later).
"Finally, these requests have been rejected as it is considered, inexplicably, that based on article 239 of the general regulations of the RFEF, the circumstances raised are not identified as a cause of force majeure, motivated by an unforeseeable circumstance such as the current one that goes beyond of the mere summons of the players in the manner established by the regulations.
"In this sense, with this resolution of the RFEF (FIFA representative in Spain), the approach made by FIFA itself to oppose the precautionary measure requested by LaLiga before the CAS is being contradicted, indicating that it was easier for LaLiga to postpone these matches than for FIFA to postpone those of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
"For all these reasons, LaLiga will challenge the aforementioned resolution considering it is not in accordance with the law."
Hull City 0-2 Sheffield United: Hamer and McCallum goals send Blades third
Sheffield United continued their fine start to the Championship with a comfortable 2-0 win away to Hull City.
Goals from Gustavo Hamer and Sam McCallum were enough to give Chris Wilder's side victory and send them up to third in the table.
The home side made an encouraging start to the game but fell behind after a stunning Blades counter-attack, with Callum O'Hare driving forward before playing in Hamer, who gave keeper Ivor Pandur no chance with a neat finish.
Hull went close to equalising through Abdulkadir Omar's free-kick, but he was thwarted by a flying save from Michael Cooper in the Sheffield United goal.
The away side doubled their advantage in the second half as substitute McCallum swept in a fine effort from Andre Brooks' cutback.
Marvin Mehlem nearly handed the Tigers a way back into the encounter, but his header crashed against the crossbar, leaving Hull 19th in the table, still without a league win this campaign.
Data debrief: Blades make best start in 12 years
With three wins and two draws under their belt in the Championship, Sheffield United will be proud of how they have adapted to life back in the second tier.
It marks their best start to a campaign since the 2012-13 season, which saw them go unbeaten in their first 16 games in League One.
Wilder also continued his good record as Blades boss at MKM stadium, winning a fourth successive match away to Hull after losing in February 2018, in his first spell in charge.
Borussia Dortmund 4-2 Heidenheim: Adeyemi stars with brace to inspire win
Karim Adeyemi scored twice and set up another goal as Borussia Dortmund earned a 4-2 victory over visitors Heidenheim on Friday.
Adeyemi first set up Donyell Malen, who drilled his low shot through Kevin Muller to give the hosts the lead in the 12th minute.
The 22-year-old then doubled their advantage six minutes later with his first goal after completing a textbook break five minutes later.
Heidenheim briefly cut the deficit with Marvin Pieringer's powerful header after 39 minutes, but Dortmund restored their two-goal cushion before the break with Adeyemi's low drive wrongfooting the goalkeeper.
The visitors set up a nervy finish after being awarded a 74th-minute penalty for a foul by Niklas Sule on Mikkel Kaufmann, with Maximilian Breunig confidently hitting the back of the net.
But Dortmund earned a spot kick themselves in stoppage time thanks to Omar Traore's handball, and Emre Can coolly slotted in to make it 4-2.
Data Debrief: Home advantage
While it looked like Dortmund may be in for a nervy ending after Heidenheim's late penalty, that was not the case, and it means they extend an impressive home record.
The Black and Yellow are unbeaten in 37 Bundesliga home games on a Friday since a 1-0 loss to Schalke in January 2004, which is a league record, level with Werder Bremen between 1984 and 1991).
Dortmund are unbeaten so far this campaign, but Heidenheim's six-match winning run in all competitions is now at an end.
Vancouver Whitecaps v San Jose Earthquakes: Gauld not expecting easy game against struggling visitors
Ryan Gauld says Vancouver Whitecaps will not treat the visit of San Jose Earthquakes as an "easy game" as they look to get back to winning ways in MLS.
Vancouver have lost just one of their last eight league matches but fired a blank for just the second time at home this season in a 0-0 draw with FC Dallas last time out.
They sit sixth in the Western Conference, but a win, coupled with defeats for Seattle Sounders and Colorado Rapids, could see them move up the table.
Gauld is prepared for a tough fight though, despite how it looks on paper.
"We've got to treat it like any other game," said the captain. "They're at the bottom, but they've still got a lot of good players that can hurt us if we're not at our best.
"If you look at the standings, someone can say that [Saturday] is an easy game. But it's not. We need to play a very good game."
San Jose have won only five games this season, though one of those came in their last road match, beating high-flying Real Salt Lake 2-0.
Interim head coach Ian Russell is hoping they can build on that result as they try to finish the season on a high.
"It's going to be a good road trip for us to play quality opponents," Russell said. "It's a place where we won last year, and we'll look to get a result again.
"We need to start better in Vancouver than we did in our last game [against Minnesota United]. We have to go out on the front foot and try to put them under pressure. We have to get points on the road now, and it's going to be a really good test for us."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Vancouver Whitecaps – Mathias Laborda
Vancouver's goalless draw with Dallas on Saturday marked just the second time they failed to score in a home match this regular season (0-0 vs. Austin on May 4).
It was not for lack of trying though, as they had 21 shots (though just four on target). Mathias Laborda had five of those efforts, creating 0.4 expected goals, though only tested the goalkeeper with one of those.
San Jose Earthquakes – Ousseni Bouda
Ousseni Bouda scored the Earthquakes' lone goal in their defeat to Minnesota United on August 31.
Bouda is the seventh different player to score one of San Jose's last seven MLS goals dating back to June 19, as no 'Quakes player has more than one goal in league play in that time.
MATCH PREDICTION: VANCOUVER WHITECAPS WIN
The Whitecaps ended a five-match winless run against San Jose (D2 L3) with a 2-0 road win on March 9. Vancouver have only recorded consecutive wins over the Earthquakes once in the last nine years, doing so during the 2018 season.
Vancouver have lost only one of their last eight regular season matches (W5 D2) following a scoreless draw with Dallas on Saturday. The Whitecaps have kept consecutive clean sheets in league play for the first time since October 2023.
However, San Jose defeated Real Salt Lake, 2-0, in their last away match on August 24, just the fourth win in the 'Quakes' last 42 away matches in all competitions. San Jose last won consecutive away matches in all competitions in July 2019, with the second of those being a 3-1 win in Vancouver.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Vancouver Whitecaps – 61.8%
Draw – 20.2%
San Jose Earthquakes – 18%
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