La Liga president Javier Tebas has criticised the rearranged date for the league’s El Clasico meeting between Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The match had been scheduled to be played at the Blaugrana’s Camp Nou stadium on 26 October but due to the current volatility of the political situation in Catalonia, La Liga asked that the game be reversed to Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
This request ruled out in favour of a postponement as both clubs had rejected the switch of venue and agreed on a new date, along with the Spanish FA.
The rearranged fixture has been confirmed for Wednesday 18 December with an 8pm kick-off local time, meaning that it will be played during the night for the Asian TV market – a major income stream for the league.
La Liga instead had argued for 7 December, with the Real Madrid-Espanyol and Barcelona-Mallorca matches, scheduled for that weekend, would theoretically be rearranged to be played on Wednesday 4 December instead.
“We have received some complaints,” Tebas told reporters, as cited by ESPN.
“El Clasico was set for the Asian market. It was set for China, for Japan, where we have a lot of followers. This [change] has hurt us, no doubt.”
Tebas also spoke of the decision by the Spanish FA to play the Spanish Supercopa in Saudi Arabia: “I don't think it's the best moment to play in Saudi Arabia. It's a country that has been pirating us, pirating European soccer.
“It was the better offer [for the Supercopa] because it will be paid with money taken from European soccer.”
