EL CLÁSICO
Tebas on Clásico: "It can't be 18 December, there's Copa del Rey"
Tebas says they can't have the game on 18 December because of the Copa del Rey as they scramble to find a date to play the Clásico.
The president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, has told EFE that the Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona cannot be played on 18 December as there are Copa del Rey fixtures set for that date.
The game is scheduled for 26 October but disruption in Catalonia over the politics of the region have forced talk of a fixture change. Neither Barcelona nor Madrid are willing to move the game to the Bernabéu and a change of date seems like the most logical conclusion.
"There are things coming out," he said. "They said that the federation have said that [the Clásico can be held on 18 December], but I don't think they have said any date. The ones who will put the date on the table are the Competition Committee because there is a different procedure. Now, we here at LaLiga have started a procedure to change the schedule."
"In the case that they don't change the game, you have to put a date and this is a different procedure. They have said 18 December when there is Copa del Rey. I think that if the Copa del Rey is already devalued then putting a Clásico on the day on top of that completely devalues it. It can't be put on that day, you have to sit down and make a date. I hope that the committee can change the order," he said.