Why has Barcelona vs Real Madrid been postponed and when will El Clasico be played now?
BARCELONA against Real Madrid. Few matches are as feisty or hotly-anticipated during the football calendar. But they will have to wait to battle it out at Camp Nou after the match was postponed until a later date. Why is Barcelona vs Real Madrid postponed? Barcelona and Real Madrid are not only rivals because of their […]
BARCELONA against Real Madrid. Few matches are as feisty or hotly-anticipated during the football calendar.
But they will have to wait to battle it out at Camp Nou after the match was postponed until a later date.
Why is Barcelona vs Real Madrid postponed?
Barcelona and Real Madrid are not only rivals because of their battles for league, cup and European titles.
The pair share an unusual fight off the field, due to their region’s political status.
Barcelona – situated in Catalonia – has become a figurehead for the area’s battle for independence from Spain.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid is seen as the club of centralism and Spanish politics, largely from the days of Francisco Franco’s reign.
Although this has rumbled on for some time, tensions in Catalonia have rose to drastic new heights in recent weeks, after the Spanish supreme court sentenced nine separatist leaders to prison time.
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The sentencing comes in the fallout of their independence referendum push in 2014, which saw 90% of the votes in favour – but it was later deemed illegal by the Spanish courts.
And now many Catalans believes the courts have turned political again to stop further autonomy in the region as the central government looks to keep Catalonia a part of Spain.
With riots in the streets of Barcelona and fighting with police, La Liga and Spanish Football Federation – RFEF – agreeing to postpone the match that was set to take place on Saturday, October 26 in a bid to avoid more unrest.
When is the match rescheduled for?
Barcelona and Real Madrid have agreed to play on Wednesday, December 18 instead, with the date agreed by RFEF.
But La Liga is opposed to the new date and wants to appeal with the match set to take place while the first round of the Copa del Rey is going on.
The league proposed Wednesday, December 4 instead and released a statement saying: “La Liga doesn’t agree with the competition committee’s decision to stipulate 18 December – after an agreement was reached between Barcelona and Real Madrid, despite La Liga’s objections – as the date in which the postponed Clasico should be played.
“We are studying the documentation that we have recently received regarding the process in which the decision was taken.
“This is in order to evaluate taking possible legal action and against whom it should be tabled, before the relevant and opportune public organisations or legal organisms.”
