The semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup will be Real Sociedad-Barcelona (January 13, Arcángel stadium, in Córdoba) and Real Madrid-Athletic (January 14, La Rosaleda stadium, in Malaga). The winners of both crosses will play the final on Sunday 17 of next month at the La Cartuja stadium in Seville. The Federation's tournament regulation establishes that the League champion (Real Madrid) must face the Cup runner-up, and that the Cup Champion must do so with the League runner-up (Barça). But as the final of the Copa del Rey has not yet been disputed due to the incidence of the pandemic and the desire of the two Basque finalists, Athletic and Real Sociedad, to play that meeting with the public, it was necessary to resort to the draw to match them with Madrid and Barcelona.
On the other hand, the Federation Assembly, which could not start on first call due to not having the required quorum, has authorized its president, Luis Rubiales, to renegotiate the conditions of the agreement with Saudi Arabia to play the next editions of the Super Cup in that country. The RFEF signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia to hold three editions of the Super Cup in that Middle Eastern country. The first was held last January, but now the Arabs have asked for the contract to be postponed due to the incidence of COVID in our country. The document signed by the RFEF with Saudi Arabia represents an income of 120 million euros, half of them to be distributed among the participating clubs, but now all the conditions will have to be renegotiated.
Rubiales has obtained the support of the RFEF Assembly for “a negotiation of the conditions of the signed agreement in its day in order to maintain the right economic-patrimonial balance between both parties in order to give a sufficient response to the fulfillment of reciprocal obligations including the possibility of reviewing the temporary validity of the same so that this objective is achieved “.
On the other hand, the RFEF Assembly decided to reject the proposal of the Basque Federation to register as an independent federation with FIFA. “This is not the time to make a sports-political proposal. The RFEF must do an analysis for mere technical purposes. Being a country recognized by an international majority, and therefore it is an unfeasible project,” said Jorge Mowinckel, International Director of the RFEF.
Reactions after the draw
After the draw, a representative from each of the teams, in addition to Rubiales himself, took the floor. Aitor Díaz de Mendibil, on behalf of the Royal Society, faces the tie “with ambition”, “from humility” and remember “the good time” that the whole is going through txuri-urdin. Joan Ramon Ramos (Barcelona), for his part, assumes that “it will be very hard for Barça, because we are going to play four consecutive games away from home.: against Huesca, Athletic, Granada and then this Super Cup match “.
Emilio Butragueño and Manuel Delgado Meco they were in charge of sharing the impressions of Real Madrid and Athletic Club, respectively. The white director of institutional relations made mention of the title won last year: “We had a great experience and this year we will do everything possible to win it again”. While the Bilbao representative wanted to “mention our fans and supporters”, not having been able to enjoy the final of the Copa del Rey last season due to the pandemic and the desire to do it with an audience in the stadium.
By last, the president of the Federation he wanted to say goodbye to everyone and thank the support shown for the new format of this Spanish Super Cup: “It is a competition that is followed in more than 180 countries. Beyond the Spanish Champions or LaLiga and the Premier … There is no short competition with teams of such importance and excellence. We have the two great clubs in our football, Madrid and Barça, and the two great Basque teams. I want to thank you because you see this format as something attractive. Gone is the Super Cup that was in the middle of nowhere. Far from the format that we have achieved today that generates wealth for clubs“.