El Clu00e1sico Row Descends Into Farce As Barcelona-Real Madrid Tie Officially Postponed

It all began on Monday, when Catalan separatist leaders were jailed for nine to 13 years for their involvement in 2017's failed movement to gain independence from the Spanish mainland.

FC Barcelona then released a statement, claiming that "prison isn't the answer" to the fallout, before violent clashes between police and protesters took place across the city and its airport.

By Wednesday, La Liga officials had requested that El Clásico, scheduled for the Camp Nou on October 26 and contested between bitter rivals FCB and Real Madrid, be moved to the latter's Santiago Bernabéu stadium-a proposal that received opposition from both clubs before the government came out in support of it.

Yesterday, Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde also poured scorn on the suggestion, saying: "It's true that there's been talk of switching the fixture and for the first match to be played at the Bernabéu, but we are not convinced by that. We have a match on Wednesday and would need to travel away again. Not only because of that, but we would also like to respect the schedule and the supporters. The normal thing would be to play at our ground."

Given a ruling made this morning, however, these calls have not been heeded. The tie has been officially postponed, with Luis Rubales, the president of the Spanish Football Federation - the RFEF - previously informing that the two clubs had been called to agree on a new date. 'They presented their arguments and we are working on a solution,' it was added, 'We hope to have one as soon as possible because there are people affected, fans' trips, tickets, press...,' he trailed on.

As part of an announcement this morning, it was revealed that the clubs have until 21.00 CET on Monday to reach an agreement on a new time and date. While the league has already earmarked December 7 as its preference if the two parties cannot see eye-to-eye, reports have emerged that they themselves like the sound of December 18 - offered by the RFEF - which is when other teams are contesting the Copa del Rey.

Meanwhile, a cheeky petition has been launched in Argentina to have the game played at Boca Juniors' Bombonera stadium. This is of course a nod to last year's Copa Libertadores final, when fan trouble that saw River Plate fans attack Boca's team bus on its way to El Monumental in Buenos Aires meant the second leg of the South American club spectacle had to take place at the Bernabéu in Madrid too.

Elsewhere, the logic has been questioned in temporarily calling off the game due to a large Catalan protest occurring on the same day. Surely if it were to be held as originally planned, less protestors would be able to attend the rally. Now that the biggest derby in soccer has been delayed, authorities can expect the public to turn out in larger, perhaps even angrier, force.