Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 9y

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona Clasico dates changed for 2015-16 season

Spain's government has intervened to change the date of the two La Liga Clasicos between Real Madrid and Barcelona during the 2015-16 campaign.

Both games have been moved from the dates first announced in late July, with the first meeting at Madrid's Estadio Santiago Bernabeu switched from Nov. 8 to Nov. 22, and the return game at Barcelona's Camp Nou pushed back a week from April 3 to 10.

The Liga season will also now end on May 22, not May 15 as had initially been announced by the LFP.

The Copa del Rey final, meanwhile, has been moved by the Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD) -- it has now been provisionally set for Saturday May 7, from a previous date of May 20, although AS reports it could be moved again depending on the finalists' late-season schedules.

The latest decision was made by the Spanish government's CSD, which according to Marca ruled for the dates preferred by the La Liga [LFP] authorities over those put forward by the national federation [RFEF].

There had previously been disagreement between the LFP and RFEF over when the 2015-16 season should start, with the date of Aug. 22 only set in early-July after Spain's secretary of state for Sport Miguel Cardenal in that case ruled for the RFEF's preferred date.

According to AS, Cardenal and the CSD had to get involved again at this point due to disagreement over whether Barcelona could move a game at Getafe forward from Oct. 28 to Aug. 26, which would have helped the Catalan club manage the disruption to their fixtures which will be caused by their taking part in the World Club Cup between Dec. 10 and 20 in Japan.

The fixture confusion comes amid ongoing policy and personality clashes between La Liga president Javier Tebas and federation chief Angel Maria Villar, with TV revenue distribution being another major issue of contention between the pair.

The Camp Nou Clasico in April will now be played between the first and second legs of the Champions League quarterfinals, while the Copa del Rey final will be played the weekend after the UCL semifinal second legs.

The 2016 Champions League final will be played on Saturday July 28 in Milan, while Euro 2016 begins in France on Friday June 10.

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