Levante protests LaLiga’s fixture scheduling

Levante has protested against LaLiga’s scheduling: the club is due to host Elche on Monday, November 23, before welcoming Racing on Friday, November 27, in matchday 14 of LALIGA EA SPORTS. Both games are scheduled at Ciutat de Valencia. Levante says the sequence creates a competitive disadvantage and has used graphics to highlight the rest time allocated to teams in October and November.

The club points out that the two home fixtures are only four days apart. In a statement, it expressed its « deep discontent and indignation » at the Friday scheduling, following a match set for Monday in the same week. Levante called the sequence « a new disadvantage » and said the distribution of kick-off times had worked against it since the start of the championship.

Levante also maintains that it is among the non-European sides to have received the least rest this season. The club argues that the figures show unequal treatment compared with other teams. Its statement further says that it is the only Primera División club to have had to play on a Monday and a Friday in the same week this season. The situation already arose in October and is due to happen again between November 23 and 27.

While acknowledging the difficulty of drawing up the fixture schedule, Levante says this « cannot justify some clubs repeatedly facing clearly less favourable rest conditions than others ». The club insists: « We are not asking for privileges or special treatment. We demand equal conditions. » It warns that it will not remain « impassive » in the face of a situation it considers harmful to the integrity of the competition and the health of its professionals. Levante says it has conveyed its dissatisfaction to LALIGA president Javier Tebas and is demanding « the same respect and the same conditions as the other clubs ».

The protest comes as Levante sit 17th in Liga with 11 points after 12 matches. Their record stands at two wins, five draws and five defeats, with 16 goals scored and 21 conceded. In their last five league games, they have one win, two draws and two losses. At home, they have won two, drawn one and lost two of five matches, scoring 13 goals and conceding 12. Away from home, they have yet to win in seven games—four draws and three defeats—and have scored three goals while conceding nine.