Rosell: Barca will play at midday

Barcelona President Sandro Rosell has confirmed that La Blaugrana will play at least one La Liga game at midday this season.

Despite admitting the early kick-off time would be good for Barca’s exposure in Asia, Rosell does still not agree with it and also feels it would impact on grassroots football, with many youngsters accustomed to playing at that time of day.

“This year we will see a game at midday,” he told Forum Fundacio, a group set up to promote healthy debate concerning issues with the club.

“Among other things Mediapro [the company that owns the rights to live football] are able to tell us when to play and we must accept that, but it makes me laugh.”

The Barca chief also took the opportunity to reiterate his belief that La Liga should be reduced in size to create a Champions League with more games and more profitability.

“I don’t think there will be a European League in the short term because I don’t think it would be permitted at an international level. Neither do I believe that is what people want.

“We could end up playing against Bruges when the fans want us to play against [Real] Betis,” he stressed, before stating that the Spanish League should look at the Bundesliga as a model to make it more economically sustainable.

During the meeting, which was also attended by Mediapro boss Jaume Roure, Rosell insisted that Barca had never received any offers for its principal stars, including Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Busquets and Carles Puyol.

“I’m certain that if anyone asked about Messi then we would say no. We’ve put a barrier up with him,” he asserted.

Tags Busquets Messi Puyol Rosell Xavi
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