Spanish football authorities have dismissed a request to suspend Segunda División fixtures following the death of Tenerife forward Jesús de Miguel.
The Single Competition Judge of Professional Competitions at the Royal Spanish Football Federation, known as the RFEF, declared the petition inadmissible on Friday due to a lack of legal jurisdiction. The application had been submitted by the Association of Spanish Footballers, the national players union known as AFE, which sought an immediate halt to the upcoming round of league fixtures across the second tier.
In a formal resolution first reported by Spanish legal publication Iusport, the judge ruled that he held no regulatory competence to order the suspension or postponement of matchday 13 fixtures in the national second tier championship. The ruling stated that under Spanish sports governance rules, legal authority to decide on such requests belongs entirely to the National Professional Football League, commonly known as LaLiga.
The players union now has a window of 48 hours to file a formal appeal against the dismissal before the National Second Instance Committee, the federation tribunal responsible for hearing second level administrative challenges.
Jurisdiction and the Valencia flood precedent
AFE sent its petition to the RFEF competition judge on Friday morning after waiting three days for a response from LaLiga to an earlier request that went completely unanswered. The union acted after holding discussions with team captains across every club in the Segunda División. Union representatives stated that the petition reflected the majority feeling among players in the division, who felt that out of respect, solidarity, and fellowship toward De Miguel, the round should not be played under present circumstances.
In its arguments to the judge, AFE highlighted that at least three fixtures in the thirteenth round had already been called off: Granada against Tenerife, Andorra against Mallorca, and Castellón against Eibar. The union asked football authorities to suspend the remaining matches scheduled for the weekend and reschedule them for a later date.
To support its case, AFE cited a precedent from November 6, 2024, when the same single competition judge ordered the suspension and postponement of professional matches following the deadly DANA flash flooding disaster that struck the Valencian Community. AFE argued that the profound grief and emotional mourning caused by De Miguel's death justified an identical administrative intervention.
National Court ruling on federation powers
The competition judge dismissed the comparison with the 2024 flood postponements, pointing to a subsequent judicial ruling that curtailed the federation's authority over professional football timetables. In December 2024, the Sixth Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of Spain's National Court, the Audiencia Nacional, delivered a verdict that has since become final and legally binding.
The Audiencia Nacional judgment declared the federation competition body incompetent to rule on professional league postponements. The court nullified key clauses of Article 53 of the RFEF statutes, which has since been renumbered as Article 56. Those repealed sections previously granted the federation competition judge the power to suspend, advance, or delay matches, designate dates and venues, and enforce uniform kickoff times for rounds that influence promotion and relegation.
The judge explained in his resolution that such regulatory powers, when applied to official nationwide competitions of a professional nature, belong exclusively to the relevant professional league. Because the court established that the federation cannot intervene in professional scheduling, the judge concluded that he had no legal authority to consider the union's request on its merits.
Fatal collision during Tenerife match
Jesús de Miguel died on Tuesday following a severe impact suffered during a league match between Tenerife and Andorra on November 2 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The collision took place in the 96th minute of the contest when the forward clashed heavily with Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono.
De Miguel, who devoted his life to football from his earliest playing days in Madrid through to his senior career in the professional tiers, was also a prominent member of the AFE board of directors. As an executive board member, he took an active role in representing fellow footballers on collective labour protections and player rights.
Following his death, colleagues and fellow professionals paid tribute to De Miguel, remembering him as one of the finest people they had encountered in the game. In a mark of national mourning, AFE cancelled all official events, public engagements, and administrative meetings that had been scheduled to take place throughout the week.
Tributes planned across Spanish stadiums
Despite the decision not to postpone the round, Spanish football authorities have arranged a coordinated programme of tributes to honour De Miguel across the weekend sporting calendar. The RFEF, LaLiga, and Liga F, Spain's top division of women's professional football, announced several joint memorial acts taking place under the official slogan Always in our memory.
Every match played across the professional divisions this weekend will feature a complete halt in play during the ninth minute, marking the number 9 shirt that De Miguel wore for Tenerife. During the pause, stadium giant screens and digital scoreboards will broadcast a dedicated memorial tribute video honouring his life and career.
Before kickoff in every stadium, the starting lineups of both competing teams will emerge from the tunnel together, walking onto the pitch intermingled rather than in separate lines. Each starting player will wear a commemorative shirt bearing the number 9 on the reverse alongside the Always in our memory motto, providing a unified public display of respect before the games begin.
