La Liga have confirmed there will be no change to the start date of the 2025/26 season despite rumoured objections from Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
Both sides are facing a marathon summer as they head into the new campaign on the back of competing at the FIFA Club World Cup.
The expanded 32-team tournament in the USA will extend the 2024/25 season by a month and the 2025/26 campaign also leads directly into the 2026 World Cup next summer.
The wider optics of the situation has caused major controversy amongst European domestic leagues and clubs, as the Club World Cup adds more games to the schedule, alongside multiple FIFA international breaks in 2025.
Qualification for the World Cup has been squeezed into a smaller window but there are still three windows split across September, October and November.
If Real Madrid and/or Atletico Madrid progress to the final of the Club World Cup, their tournament will end on July 13 before players depart on a summer break.
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When does La Liga 2025/26 start?
The fixture list will be announced by La Liga in July but they have confirmed the season will start on the weekend of August 16-17.
The season will end on May 24, 2026 to allow for a three-week break for the start of the World Cup.
Current AFE regulations require footballers to have 30 days of rest in a calendar year and a period of at least 21 days uninterrupted at the end of the season.
The current gap between the Club World Cup final and the La Liga restart is within those guidelines - but will impact player involvement in preseason - and La Liga president Javier Tebas claimed the new tournament has forced this move.
"It's not being considered for Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid to skip the first matchday. We will respect the collective bargaining agreement, the three-week vacation and nothing else,” as per reports from Diario AS.
"We can’t base our competition on the Club World Cup, a competition which neither the European leagues nor the clubs are in favour of."
Real Madrid start their Club World Cup campaign with a Group H opener against Al Hilal on June 18.
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