18 Dec 2009No winter break for Scottish Premier League

Football Leagues/ Association and Governance

Chief executive of the Scottish Premier League Neil Doncaster has ruled out the reintroduction of a winter break next season.

Writing in a blog entry on the SPL website, he said that the prospect of fixture congestion would make it too difficult to include a brief hiatus in the schedule, despite the advantages of such a break.

Doncaster also confirmed that the 2010-11 SPL season will get underway on Saturday August 14th.

Commenting on the winter break issue, he wrote: "Unfortunately, UEFA have decreed that leagues cannot schedule midweek fixture cards against Champions League or Europa League fixtures.

"There just is not the scope to fit a winter break into the fixture calendar."

A winter shutdown last featured in the Scottish top-flight in 2000-01, but the prospect of extreme weather conditions over the next few months has raised questions about bringing it back.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger criticised the English Premier League fixture list after his side's 1-1 draw with Burnley on Wednesday (December 16th).

Written by Terry Mitchell

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