UEFA warns the major leagues over the European competitions

UEFA has warned all its member associations against staging domestic competition matches at the same time as the club competition matches run by the continental governing body, except in exceptional cases that make this necessary.

Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo report that UEFA sent a circular to all its member associations this week. Along with confirming the dates of the three club competitions for the 2027-2028 season, it reminded them that "domestic competition matches must not be held on the same dates as UEFA competition matches, unless exceptional circumstances require it".

European football's highest body explained that the aim of this measure "is to ensure the success of both domestic football and UEFA club competitions".

"We recognise that unforeseen circumstances may sometimes make it necessary to postpone a domestic match to a date on which a UEFA club competition is taking place," it added.

Scheduling clashes, though, are another matter. UEFA stressed that "scheduling domestic league or cup matches in a way that directly clashes with UEFA club competition matches, or vice versa, is not in the interest of supporters and harms football".

The governing body called on domestic associations and organisers to factor in these dates when drawing up their schedules. "We therefore ask you to ensure that your association or the domestic league organiser takes these dates into account when preparing the domestic competition schedule," it said.

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