Official statement

It was LaLiga, and no other institution, that began the proceedings to prevent the so-called "El Clásico" match taking place in Barcelona on 26 October, given the serious public order situation in Catalonia and given the knowledge obtained by our security department that the match was going to be the object of attention from various non-peaceful groups.

On Monday, 13 October, in the afternoon, and on Tuesday, 14 October, in the morning, contacts were maintained with state institutions to assess the appropriacy and suitability of the El Clásico match taking place and under what conditions. These contacts, as well as those that followed, were set in motion as a result of the fact that we were facing a situation that clearly went beyond the sporting issue.

After the morning of 14 October, it became clear that the least possible damage would be done to the LEAGUE COMPETITION, both in terms of sporting integrity and in economic terms, if the match locations were to be switched, there being enough time to implement this strategy.

From that point, a path was initiated that has led us to yesterday's decision on the part of the Comité de Competición (Competitions Committee), a decision which LaLiga does not agree with, to fix 18 December – following the agreement reached by FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, in spite of LaLiga's disagreement – as the date of the El Clásico match (after prior proceedings, in which the Committee agreed to postpone the aforementioned match).

In view of the content of the Competitions Committee's Resolution published yesterday and the documents included in the file, LaLiga has taken the decision to appeal before the ordinary courts and the Consejo Superior de Deportes (Spain’s High Council for Sport), albeit without requesting an injunction. This is because the procedural time required to hear the case would generate uncertainty for fans in Spain and all over the world who enjoy our competition through more than one hundred national and international television broadcasters in more than one hundred and eighty countries, by delaying even further the fixing of a secure date for the celebration of this iconic LaLiga match.

LaLiga does not agree with the decision of the Competition Committee to fix the date of the El Clásico on 18 December for several reasons:

·        Firstly, because, in line with the usual measures taken in these cases on the part of LaLiga and the Committee itself, and with the intention of skewing the provisional league standings as little as possible, the match should have been scheduled as soon as possible. Once the calendar has been revised, the first material date on which both contenders could play the postponed match is 4 December, not 18 December. This is also the criterion established in Art. 4.2.3 of the Bases de Competición de Primera y Segunda División de la RFEF (the Spanish Football Federation’s First and Second Division Competition Rules). In other words, and contrary to what the Committee is stating, there is a specific procedure for setting the date of a postponed match – which is to set it on the first date materially available; and that is 4 December, 2019.

It is surprising in this situation that the Spanish Football Federation's Competition Committee should assess sporting criteria from other competitions, without taking into account the sporting criteria of the national competition, which are the criteria it should be defending.

·        Secondly, because there is no rule, in either public law, federative regulations or LaLiga regulations, that states that, after the suspension of a professional competition match for exceptional reasons, it is the clubs that have, by agreement, the power to set the new date for that match. Sharing the Committee's position that the date of a postponed match should be fixed by the two clubs concerned could give rise to the absurd position that, if both agree, a match like the one postponed could be played on the penultimate or last day of LaLiga Santander, with all the consequences this would have on the integrity of the competition.

·        Thirdly, because it is neither reasonable nor legal (in accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree-Law 5/2015, which confers on LaLiga the function of "specifying" "the date and time of the holding of each of the marketed events") to deprive LaLiga of such an important power for the marketing of audiovisual rights as the fixing of the date of the matches of the competitions it markets and organises; and even less so when that match is El Clásico and the joint marketing, with all its benefits and liabilities, affects all the clubs of the professional competition. (It is precisely because of this that, since 2015, its marketing has been joint and not individual.)

·        In addition, it is a violation of the Convenio de Coordinación (Coordination Agreement) recently signed between LaLiga and the Spanish Football Federation, since we are not facing a change of dates for disciplinary reasons.

·        Finally, it is surprising that the Committee has acceded to the request of the two clubs to fix the date of El Clásico match on 18 December, when the calendar agreed with the Spanish Football Federation (after long negotiation) indicates 18 December as a day on which Copa del Rey matches will be played, and no other LaLiga match may be played on this date; this is even more surprising given that there is another, earlier, date available for the dispute of the postponed match (4 December) and that both parties, LaLiga and the Spanish Football Federation, had decided to make this date available expressly for holding any game postponed or suspended during the first round of the league championship.

Therefore, yesterday’s Resolution of the Competition Committee infringes:

1.   Royal Decree-Law 5/2015 (a rule, let's not forget, that has the standing of legislation), which gives LaLiga the status of marketer of the First and Second Division (professional competitions) and which, by virtue of this granting, confers on LaLiga the function of "specifying" "the date and time of the holding of each one of the marketed events" (Art. 4.4.c). The fixing of the date and times of professional competition matches, following the entry into force of Royal Decree-Law 5/2015, is a competence that falls to LaLiga precisely to ensure the proper collective management, through LaLiga (and not the clubs independently), of audiovisual rights. Pursuant to Royal Decree-Law 5/2015, audiovisual rights belong to everyone and affect everyone; hence, the primordial role of LaLiga as an association that brings together the majority interest (and not that of a few) of its affiliated clubs (those in the First and Second Division).

2.   The Convenio de Coordinación (Coordination Agreement) signed between LaLiga and the Spanish Football Federation, which set, with the mediation of Spain’s High Council for Sport, a calendar, which provided for the holding on 18 December of Copa del Rey matches, and not a LaLiga Santander match, and also expressly set, in that calendar, the date of 4 December, 2019 as the date of any game suspended or postponed in the first round of the league championship. Likewise, it violates the competence that this Agreement recognises as given to LaLiga to fix the date and time of the matches of the professional competition, with the only exception being those cases of suspension agreed as a consequence of a disciplinary decision. (However, in this case, we are dealing with neither a suspension, nor a disciplinary decision that mitigates the full competence of LaLiga over the fixing of the date of the matches of the First and Second Division.)

3.   The Spanish Football Federation’s own Competition Rules, which expressly state in Art. 4.2.3 that a postponed match must be played on the first date on which it can materially take place.

4.   The sporting integrity of the competition, benefiting two clubs in particular, to the detriment of the other participants.

5.   The audiovisual commitments acquired with the broadcasters, insofar as the economic benefits of this match, at audiovisual and competition level, corresponds to the 42 clubs that make up LaLiga and not only to the two clubs that will play the aforementioned match.

6.   The audiovisual rights of the clubs/public limited sports companies participating in the Copa del Rey, as this will cause a major disruption that will damage the value of these clubs/public limited sports companies.

Therefore, the pertinent legal and administrative actions will be taken before the competent bodies, albeit without requesting an injunction, in defence of the rights of the clubs and public limited sports companies affiliated to LaLiga, to demand the legal accountability required by law against the institutions and persons involved in this decision, which, as we have explained, cause irreparable damage to Spanish football.