To the surprise of FC Barcelona, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) set August 17 and August 20 to be the dates when both legs of the Spanish Super Cup have to be played.


In an interview with Barça TV, FC Barcelona´s technical secretary Txiki Begiristain admitted that he was stunned about the dates:

"Barça are surprised by the decision, because we have met with them in Madrid and explained the reasons why there may be problems with these dates.We want to play on equal terms. The main problem is that the day before the first game there are international friendlies and we may find that everyone returns fully fit or we could find that we have only nine players available and two of those could be goalkeepers. That means that the prestige of the event could be put at risk by the RFEF because the two sides will not be on the same level. On one side, the league champions could have nine players available and on the other, the cup winners, could have their whole squad. That is what we are trying to explain to the RFEF".

The decision of the RFEF is ridiculous, due to the fact that Barca´s Txiki Begiristain and his counterpart of Espanyol travelled all the way to Madrid to discuss this matter.
Txiki Begiristain has also spoken to Espanyol and Barca´s technical secretary confirms that officials of the reigning Copa Del Rey winners have taken a correct position.

Barça have highlighted the problems of the dates a long time ago when they even suggested the date of August 22 but the club is now playing his Gamper Trophy on the date of 22nd of August. Begiristain explained:

"It is our trophy and this will be the 41st year of it. Also, we cannot sign a contract with Bayern Munich to come and play and leave the date of the game dependent on when the Super Cup will be played. The Gamper is a done deal, it is a prestigious event, it is our tournament and we decided to play it on that date. We believe that the Super Cup should be played in September and, we have stated, that we think September 20 is a good alternative date and we still believe that. It is the best thing for the competition and for Barça because we, obviously, want to win it."