New student-run football league kicks off at Erasmus Sport

Students Matiás Schapiro and Javier Torres have formed the Erasmus Football League (EFL), an indoor competition at the Sports Building. Their first season of eleven teams will run from the beginning of March to the end of May.

According to the second-year International Business Administration students, organising football games was difficult. “The problem is that there are no referees, no scheduled matches, and no commitment. This makes matches easy to cancel at the last minute”, explained Matiás. “People might not show up because they’re tired or the weather doesn’t allow it.”

Last December, they realised that Erasmus University currently lacked a league comparable to those at other universities. “Why is there no league here, when other universities have one too?”, said Matiás.

Their initiative therefore aims to close this gap by offering players matchdays with licensed referees, official rules and a fixed schedule.

Five against five

The Erasmus Football league, available for Erasmus Sport pass holders, requires a minimum of nine players per team, including one appointed captain. Matches will be played every Sunday starting on 1 March. The games are indoors in a five versus five futsal format and will last 40 minutes. On the final match day, which is 31 May, the four highest-ranked teams will qualify for playoffs.

“It’s not like the Spanish league for example, where the team with the highest number of points wins”, said Javier. “Our format is more similar to Major League Soccer in the United States because we work with playoffs.”

The playoffs consist of semi-finals and a final that will determine the winner of the season. For now, the league has a single men’s division, with possible expansion to a women’s division from September onwards. “We’re hoping to extend next year when we can secure more teams and halls. We would also like to have first and possibly 7- or 11-a side competitions”, explained Matiás.

Live on Sofascore

Erasmus University and Erasmus Sport support the league and provide promotion, indoor halls and equipment. The founders also collaborate with Sofascore and use the platform to upload results and track player statistics live. Erasmus Night Out (ENO) and Smitse offer social and community gatherings for league members.  

Sold out in 15 minutes

Team registration for the league opened on 16 February at 12:00. Places were allocated on a first-come, first-served basis due to limited capacity, and all 11 spots were taken within 15 minutes, Matiás says. The fee was 250 euros per team, plus the price for a mandatory jersey.

Interested players without a team can still try to join via a WhatsApp group linked on the website, called Find your Team, depending on whether registered teams are looking for additional participants.