There may not be any footballers, balls or blades of grass, but Atletico Madrid have an important fixture this Monday as the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) listen to an appeal against their transfer ban.
Los Rojiblancos were sanctioned by FIFA with a two-window ban following irregularities in the signing of 26 minors between 2007 and 2014 and they already served the first half of it during January.
Now, though, their hope is to have the punishment reduced so that they can return to the transfer market this summer and have hired Martens Lawyers to make their case, while club officials Clemente Villaverde, Emilio Gutierrez and Jacobo Ollero de la Serna will also make the trip to the CAS headquarters in Lausanne.
Spanish FA and Madrid FA representatives will also give testimonies, including Jorge Perez, who is a candidate for the national federation's top job.
The process works in such a way that the two parties select one judge each, while CAS appoint the third, so Atletico have selected the Brit Romano F. Subiotto, FIFA have chosen the German Ulrich Haas and the court have opted for the Israeli Efraim Barak.
In private, the club are optimistic about their chances and are much more confident than they were even just a few weeks ago.
They will not, however, learn their fate right away and the deadline for the court to reveal their decision is May 31.
