Spanish judge says La Liga can’t schedule Monday games

MADRID (AP) — A Spanish judge has issued a preliminary ruling to allow the Spanish league to schedule matches on Fridays, but not on Mondays as it has done for several seasons.

The judge ruled Friday to partially accept the request by the Spanish league to put a stay on another court’s decision that would have limited games to Saturdays and Sundays, as wanted by the Spanish football federation.

The decision only affects the first three rounds of this season. A court will later make a definitive decision on what days the games can be played.

The federation says fans don’t like attending Monday games played at late hours. The league says the Monday games boost television revenues.

The competition starts with Barcelona playing at Athletic Bilbao next Friday.