“Scottish Premiership Winter Break Shelved for Upcoming Season Due to Expanded European Schedule Challenges”
The elimination of the Scottish Premiership winter break for the upcoming season is attributed to the expanded European schedule.
The increase in UEFA league matchdays, ranging from six to potentially 10,
has posed a greater challenge for the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL)
to accommodate the 38 top-flight fixture dates.
Unlike previous seasons where the league phase of the Champions and Europa League
concluded before Christmas, it will now extend until the end of January.
Calum Beattie, the chief operating officer of the SPFL, acknowledged
the heightened scheduling difficulties, stating, “It is fair to say that the
additional slots required for the UEFA club competitions next season have made scheduling more challenging than usual.
In particular, there is very limited flexibility within the Premiership fixture
calendar, and we are therefore unable to accommodate a scheduled winter break.”
The SPFL has outlined that the league season will commence
on the weekend of August 3-4, with the Premiership campaign set to conclude on May 17-18.
Clubs in the Championship, League 1, and League 2 will finish their seasons on the
first weekend in May before the commencement of the playoffs.
The group stage of the Viaplay Cup is scheduled to commence in
mid-July, and the quarter-finals will be moved to a weekend due to a
shortage of available domestic midweeks in the first half of the season.
The final is slated for December 15.
Read more news on sporttoday.co.uk
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