The Hotel and Extra-Hotel Association of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, Ashotel, has proposed to the Spanish Football Federation and the Professional Football League that they study the possibility of finishing the remaining matches of the season in the Canary Islands, both in the First and Second Division, which have been affected by the state of alarm decreed on March 14 by the global Covid-19 pandemic.
The president of Ashotel, Jorge Marichal, has written to the presidents of the Federation and the League, Luis Rubiales and Javier Tebas, respectively, to propose the possibility of finishing the league championships in the archipelago in the coming months, once the state of alarm and the mandatory citizen confinement are lifted.
There are several reasons that the Tenerife hotel association argues in its letter to defend the initiative, including the fact that the condition of insularity and distance from the Peninsula and the continent has been "an isolation factor that has partially protected the Islands in the expansion of the pandemic."
Also, being "a world-class tourist destination, with more than 15 million tourists received in 2019, with a quality hotel and extra-hotel plant and very accustomed to the management and service of sports teams", is also added to the reasons, as detailed in a statement.
"The aim is for all parties to benefit"
If this initiative goes ahead, the hotel association believes that it would contribute to the recovery of the tourism sector in the Islands, the true engine of the economy, as well as to the gradual reopening of some of the accommodation establishments, closed by ministerial order since March 27, and to the return of their staff.
"The aim is, in this way, for all parties to benefit, while seeking a return to a progressive normality and for sport to also contribute to returning positive stimuli to the whole society," says Ashotel.
For the hotel association, "the quality of the sports infrastructures and the homologation of the existing football fields offer sufficient spaces to face the pending matches, in addition to high performance centers for the physical preparation of the members of the teams".
"The warm climate of the Canary Islands throughout the year would allow players not to be subjected to high temperatures in the months close to summer, a concern that surrounds the leaders of both organizations," says Ashotel. In this regard, it highlights that the Covid-10 Monitoring Commission, which also includes representatives of the Federation, La Liga and the Spanish Footballers Association (AFE), agreed this Tuesday on a protocol for when the Government authorizes the game again, which proposes intervals of 72 hours between matches and breaks every 30 minutes for hydration.
Finally, the hotel association highlights that "the Canary Islands has a private hospital network, as it is a private initiative, with more than 2,000 beds and professional teams with a presence in the most populated islands, which can supervise and respond to all the health requirements of the competitions, guaranteeing the health of the players and the rest of the sports staff displaced".
Ashotel foresees that, if the proposal is of interest to the Federation and the League, it will be extended to the entire Canary Islands territory, with the support of other hotel associations on the islands and their accommodation plant. It also points out that it will be formally transferred to the competent public administrations.
