Barcelona board spokesperson Josep Vives has expressed his annoyance at the kickoff time for his club's Copa del Rey final against Sevilla on May 22.
This year's Copa decider has been fixed for Atletico Madrid's Estadio Vicente Calderon, with the game set for 21:30 local time kickoff, apparently to maximise the TV audience within Spain.
The evening start does however mean players and fans of both clubs will need to travel and stay overnight in the Spanish capital, something which lead to Barca already expressing their indignation at the unwillingness of broadcast rights holder Mediaset to think of the travelling supporters.
After a board meeting at the Camp Nou on Monday, reporters were told that the time of the kickoff also meant that potential viewers in the Far East could miss out too.
"We're very annoyed with the Spanish FA as we had asked them to speak with Mediaset to reflect on the kickoff time," Vives said. "It was important for fans of Barcelona and Sevilla and also we will lose an opportunity to export this final to the Asian market. At 6 p.m. we could have people in Asia watching the game. At 9:30 it is more difficult."
Barca are also currently involved in a super-tight La Liga race, although they could secure the title a week early at home to local rivals Espanyol next Sunday evening, should challengers Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid both slip up.
Asked about Espanyol fans hoping for a repeat of the Tamudazo, when Raul Tamudo famously scored at the Camp Nou in the last minute to deny Barca the title back in 2007, Vives said the issue had not come up in conversations with his fellow directors.
"The Tamudazo is a long time ago now," he said. "We did not talk about it at the board meeting. When you are positive it gets the emotions going. We did talk about having a great team and we want to write a new chapter in the club's history."
Barca have yet to agree a new shirt sponsor for next season, with talks to extend the current deal with Qatar Airways apparently deadlocked, and some reports claiming that the Catalan club must indemnify kit suppliers Nike as the new strip should already have gone into production.
"I cannot comment at all about that, for us it does not deserve a comment," Vives said when asked if his club would have to pay Nike due to the delay.