The Saudi Professional League Association revealed the criteria and factors it relied on in building the match schedule for the Saudi Professional League "Roshn Saudi League" for the 2026-2027 season, which kicks off on August 13, 2026 and concludes on May 29, 2027, in preparation for the announcement of the season's match schedule.

The announcement of the scheduling criteria comes before the release of the schedule, aiming to clarify the foundations adopted in the distribution and sequencing of matches, amid the exceptional density of international, continental, and local commitments in the next season's sports calendar, and to enhance the transparency of the schedule-building mechanism for clubs, fans, and media.

In this context, the association indicated that a workshop was held with all clubs to present the scheduling mechanism and calendar, and all clubs were given the opportunity to share their requests regarding the sequence of matches and scheduling of dates. Eight Saudi clubs will participate in four external tournaments during the upcoming season, coinciding with FIFA international breaks and the Saudi national team's commitments, which occupy about 80 days of the calendar, in addition to hosting the 2027 Asian Cup, which requires more than 44 days, not counting the handover period of stadiums before the tournament begins.

The calendar also includes 59 days dedicated to various Saudi and continental tournaments, and 43 days for rest periods between matches, while the association has 102 actual days to schedule 306 matches across 34 rounds of the Saudi league. The schedule construction was based on three main factors controlling the sequence of matches and their temporal and geographical distribution throughout the season: schedule-building criteria, classification of clubs according to their athletic performance, and stadium readiness and availability. The association adopted ten main criteria for building the schedule, most notably that no club plays more than two consecutive matches at home or away, and that each club plays one home and one away match during the first two and last two rounds of the season. The criteria also stipulated that the rest period between two consecutive matches for a single club should not be less than two days, regardless of the competition in which it participates, taking into account player safety and regularity of club participation in various tournaments.

Regarding the classification of clubs, they were divided into four levels: Level A and Level B each include five clubs, while Level C and Level D each include four clubs. The classification aims to achieve greater balance in the sequence of matches, so that no club faces Level A clubs in two consecutive rounds, limiting the clustering of difficult matches within short time periods. The evaluation is based on results from three seasons, using fixed time weights that give greater weight to the most recent season.

As for stadiums, their operational requirements and availability, given commitments related to regional, continental, and international hosting, were among the influencing factors. The association emphasized that the construction of the season schedule came in light of studying these factors collectively, serving the regularity and competitive fairness of the competition, taking into account the participation of various clubs, and contributing to providing a better experience for fans, amid an exceptional season in terms of density and overlap of sports commitments. The association is scheduled to announce the Roshn Saudi League match schedule for the 2026-2027 season in the next phase, including the distribution of round matches throughout the season.