The Universidad Europea del Atlántico (European University of the Atlantic) presented yesterday in its auditorium the Second Liga Universitaria UNEATLANTICO (UNEATLANTICO University League), an indoor soccer competition, organized in conjunction with the Real Federación Cántabra de Fútbol (Royal Cantabrian Football Federation) that will take place between the months of November and March in the campus sports facilities. During the event, the competition rules were presented, and the composition of the three initial groups was drawn.
The Liga Universitaria UNEATLANTICO, which was born as a non-federated competition but regulated under the umbrella of the Federation, will host in this edition a total of 17 teams, far surpassing the participation rates in its premiere. It will also be a longer competition, featuring a total of three phases until the champion is known. Once again, registration in the competition includes a regulation equipment, playing with federated referees, aspiring to the trophies and medals that the first three classified will receive, and gifts for the champion. The highlight will be to obtain the pass to enroll in the Campeonato de España Universitario (Spanish University Championship).
Competition system
Thus, the Second Liga Universitaria UNEATLANTICO will start with a first phase composed of three groups of six, six, and five teams, respectively. It will have a one-round league format in which all teams will play against each other throughout the months of November and December. A second phase will then be played in which the teams will be divided into two groups of eight and nine teams, respectively, according to their merits (the first two, second, and best third teams will go to the first group). This part of the competition will take place during the months of January and February.
And finally, the final phase of the competition will be divided into four cups: Champions Cup, Gold Cup, Silver Cup, and Bronze Cup. All of them will have a single-elimination format with semifinals, third and fourth place, and final. The Champions Cup will be contested by the top four teams in group A, who will compete for the title to succeed Sr Lon, the first team to win the title. In the Gold Cup, they will play from 5th to 8th; in the Silver Cup, they will play the result between 9th and 12th place; and from 13th to 17th, they will compete in the Bronze Cup.
Matches will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays of each week between 12:00 and 17:00 p.m. The duration of the matches will be two halves of twenty minutes each, with a running clock. And finally, the champions and runners-up of the different Cups will have a trophy, and the best ranked team at the time of registering the internal representative of UNEATLANTICO will be responsible for disputing the Inter-autonomic preliminary phase of the campeonato de España universitario 2023.
Groups and schedules
During the meeting with the different participants, the draw was also made to determine the composition of the groups that will begin to be played next Tuesday. The result was as follows:
– Group A: La Chuchineta, Conductores FC, Espartanos, CAFYD All Star, Amigos de Mario, and Recreativo de Juerga.
– Group B: Uneat para Estudiar, Ontoria FC, Dynamo Santander, La Chubyneta, Roja Directa, and Sr. Lon.
– Group C: Jal’s Mafia, Escondrijo, Bordaleta FC, Malaquito de Memphis, and Pirris FC.
On behalf of the Universidad Europea del Atlántico, the director of the Servicio Internacional de Convenios y Acuerdos Deportivos (International Service of Conventions and Sports Agreements, SICAD), Josep Alemany, who also represented the Physical Activity and Sports Service (SAFD) of the university along with the professor of the Sport and Exercise Science (CAFYD), and skeleton world-class athletes, Adrián Rodríguez and Sofía Portabella, were present. On behalf of the Real Federación Cántabra de Fútbol, the presentation of the competition was led by Nemesio Ochoa, Marketing Director; accompanied by Andrés Raba, Sports Director of the RFCF; Raúl Gómez, head of indoor soccer; Jimena Maté, project coordinator; and the press officer, Edu Aguilera.