DBasia.news – The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) will begin the Spanish Super Cup with a new format. For three years, the Spanish Super Cup will take place in Saudi Arabia starting from the semifinal phase.
Not as usual, the Spanish Super Cup which should bring together the Copa del Rey champions with LaLiga in the final, this time the match will start from the semifinals. The four teams involved were the Copa del Rey finalists and the last two LaLiga teams last season.
The four teams that will play are Valencia, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, and Barcelona. As reported by Marca, the results of the draw bring Valencia vs Real Madrid and Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid. The match will take place on the 8th and 9th of January 2020.
RFEF has been criticized for playing the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, a country with a bad reputation when it comes to human rights. But Luis Rubiales, President of RFEF, has his reasons for playing the match there.
“Our idea is football is a tool of change. There will be supportive and contradictory opinions, some are created, but we are confident in our gambling,” Rubiales said.
“Mediapro has done a lot of events in Saudi Arabia, but they look like they don’t care about (human) values or rights. It is illogical to criticize something from something other people have done before.”
Not all protested, the idea of playing the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia won support from President Atletico, Enrique Cerezo, and Guillermo Amor, Barcelona’s Director for Institutional Relations.
“This (Spanish Super Cup) is different from previous years. The destruction is a little further, but that’s what the federation decided and we accept the decision,” Amor said.
“It was indeed played after Christmas, but it’s not a problem, we have to be ready with it, do the best we can and win it, it’s a matter of mentality and thinking.”
“If RFEF has decided the Super Cup is played there, we will play there,” said Cerezo.
“For us it’s not a problem, being there and enjoying it, but I can imagine a country that provides all the comforts you need to be happy and comfortable there,” he concluded.