MADRID: The Spanish football federation has pushed back a draw for the upcoming football league calendar until Friday following the arrest of its president.

The draw to decide fixture for the first and second divisions, originally scheduled for Thursday, will now take place on Friday at 12:30pm (10:30GMT) at the federation’s headquarters, it said in a Twitter message.

The federation postponed the scheduled meeting from Thursday to Friday in the wake of the arrest of Angel Maria Villar in a major anti-corruption probe.

His son Gorka along with federation vice-president and financial chief Juan Padron were also held in connection with the probe, which notably focuses on allegations of skimming profits from international matches.

Earlier on Wednesday, the head of Spain’s government sports council, Jose Ramon Lete, had said the draw would go ahead despite the arrests and cancelled meetings.

“The draw, which is a purely administrative act, will take place,” he told news radio Cadena Ser.

The 2017-18 first division season will begin the weekend of August 19-20 and end on May 20, 2018.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2017