A Public Ledger for Osasuna's Monday Burden

Two Mondays, one recurring bill

Osasuna visit Sevilla at 9 p.m. on Monday, October 26, then go to Deportivo at 9 p.m. the following Monday. Those are not abstract complaints about television. They are two away journeys assigned to the same difficult corner of the working week.

The federation of Osasuna supporter groups complained on October 4 about repeated Monday assignments and the difficulty those times create for people trying to follow the team. President Luis Sabalza separately counted four Monday matches and more 2 p.m. fixtures, saying he had raised the issue with La Liga and called Javier Tebas. The grievance already has dates. What it lacks is a public account of the cost.

What the ledger should count

A phone call leaves supporters unable to measure what the club asked for or what the schedule cost them. Osasuna should publish a supporter-impact ledger after each confirmed block: kickoff time, notice period, feasible return travel, away allocation, attendance and seat-release effects, the alternative window requested and the response received.

This is not bureaucracy for its own sake. It separates a recurring burden from the weekly ritual of every club believing its schedule is uniquely cursed. If four Mondays and repeated early starts reduce attendance, resale or away travel, the record should make the pattern difficult to dismiss. If the measured effect is smaller than feared, supporters deserve that answer too.

The ticket office already holds evidence

Osasuna already operates part of the machinery required. Racing visit El Sadar at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 18. Members receive a priority sales window, while season-ticket holders who cannot attend can release their seat. A successful resale returns 50 percent of the sale price for adult cards and 30 percent for other categories.

Those figures are more than ticket-office administration. Reported in aggregate, without identifying anyone, they can show how an early kickoff affects use of paid seats. Pair that with away allocations and feasible travel options, and the club would have evidence rather than mood.

Before Racing, Osasuna visit Betis at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 11. Four confirmed fixtures across 23 days offer four different supporter conditions. That is a useful starting sample, not proof of a conclusion.

The league has a real defence

La Liga cannot give every club its preferred slot, and Osasuna do not choose the schedule alone. That practical defence matters. A public ledger should not pretend that every inconvenient kickoff is arbitrary or that the club can move one by issuing a statement.

Nor should Osasuna demand permanent prime time. The proportionate standard is rotation, adequate notice and relief after a cluster of difficult assignments. Publishing the record would let the league explain genuine constraints rather than asking supporters to accept inconvenience as a law of nature.

Private talks still need a public test

The strongest objection is that private lobbying may work better than public confrontation. Sabalza has already described direct contact with Tebas. That channel should stay open; a ledger should supply it with evidence, not replace it with performance.

After each schedule release, the club could state which alternatives it requested and later report the outcome. Supporters would see progress, constraint or refusal instead of another expression of disappointment after the assignment is fixed in place. That distinction matters: a rejected request and an unmade request do not deserve the same verdict. Transparency would also discipline Osasuna. When a more convenient option is unavailable for a genuine reason, the club should say so; when no alternative was sought, supporters should know that too.

Publish before the sequence begins

The Betis trip and Racing home match provide a short runway before the Monday sequence. Osasuna should use it to publish the ledger's categories and the standard it wants La Liga to meet, then attach the numbers as each fixture passes.

How many seats entered the Racing release scheme, and how many were resold? What realistic return journey exists after Sevilla and Deportivo? Which alternative did Osasuna request, and what response arrived? Those answers would give the supporter federation more than sympathy and the league more than a complaint to acknowledge.

Monday football may remain. Its cost to Osasuna supporters should no longer be invisible.