Athletic face 35 days without San Mamés football under new FIFA calendar | OneFootball

Athletic will bid farewell to their members on Saturday against Alavés, then will not return to San Mamés until the weekend of 25 October to face Getafe. The gap is 35 days, driven by FIFA’s revamped international window.

According to El Correo, European football pauses this weekend and will not resume until 10 October. Spain and other national teams will play four matches in 10 days. Players who receive call-ups, such as Nico or Simón, will rejoin their clubs after a heavy schedule.

Athletic will visit Rayo in Vallecas that same weekend, after the Comunidad de Madrid lifted the suspension on the host’s facilities. That match is scheduled for Saturday 10 October at 14:00.

A week later they travel to Valencia for a meeting at Mestalla on Saturday 17 at 21:00. The next round will be at San Mamés against Getafe, with the day and kick-off time still to be confirmed.

The extended absence stems from this season’s international calendar restructuring in Europe. Previously there were 10-day breaks in September, October and November, which disrupted domestic continuity. FIFA has removed the mid-October window and bolted it onto September, leaving clubs inactive for three weeks.

Source: El Correo

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”