Football
ESPN staff 8y

Barcelona, Sevilla appeal for Copa del Rey kickoff time to be moved up

Barcelona and Sevilla have asked to move up the kickoff time for their Copa del Rey final due to fan travel concerns.

The current Champions League and Europa League holders are scheduled to square off in the May 22 domestic cup final in Madrid's Vicente Calderon Stadium at 8:30 p.m. CET. However the clubs have petitioned the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for an earlier kick for the Sunday match in hopes of easing the burden on fans due at work the following day.

"Both clubs prefer the final to take place at either 6:00 p.m. or 7.00 p.m. CET as the match falls on a Sunday [May 22], meaning that the next day is a working day," Barcelona said in a statement on Monday.

"With both sets of fans needing to return to their respective homes from Madrid, the current kickoff would mean that they would not get back to Barcelona and Seville until extremely early in the morning of Monday.

"Therefore, both clubs want to make it public that the selection of the time of the final is a matter of will, and the fact that neither even have wanted to attend a request of both clubs is a blatant disregard of sensitivity to both entities and their fans.

"Any kickoff time beyond 7:00 p.m. is absolutely rejected by both clubs, who have come together to demand respect for their interests and assert their opinions on the Copa del Rey final."

For their part, Sevilla released a similar statement echoing the Catalan club's dissatisfaction with the lack of response from RFEF. 

"In spite of the reiteration on the part of both clubs concerning the meeting request, it has not occurred to date and the only communication received from the RFEF is that they do not want to discuss the issue and do not agree that a meeting should be held over this objective."

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