The Competition Committee of Spain's Royal Football Federation (RFEF) will this Friday postpone El Clásico, the face-off between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, that had been scheduled for Saturday 26th October.
The aim is to avoid the most hotly-anticipated match-up of the Spanish season coinciding with the large demonstration called for that day in Barcelona in response to the Supreme Court's sentencing earlier this week of pro-independence leaders.
Photo: EFE
On Wednesday, La Liga had asked the committee to move the match to Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu from Camp Nou to avoid the protest. The two teams expressed opposition to that option, wanting to go ahead as planned.
The new dates under consideration are the 7th and 18th December. The latter option doesn't convince Javier Tebas, the far-right president of La Liga. If it ends up being held on the 7th, the other matches down for that day (Barça-Mallorca and Madrid-Espanyol) will have to be postponed in turn. The option of the 18th would also require changes to the calendar because of the Copa del Rey.