The Spanish Football Federation denied Barcelona and Osasuna’s request to rearrange next week’s La Liga match. The game will be played on Thursday, March 27 as planned despite both sides’ reservations about not giving their players enough rest after the international break.
The clubs offered several dates in April and May for the game, but the RFEF’s appeal committee rejected the appeal because league rules require a suspended game to be rescheduled for the first available date when the two teams can play. The RFEF committee says this protects the league’s integrity by without “altering the dynamic” of the teams and La Liga season.
Both clubs have enough players to play the game, therefore international involvement was not a reason to modify the date.
The letter specifies that Osasuna’s La Liga match versus Athletic Club would be changed from Friday, March 28 to Sunday, March 30 to accommodate Barcelona.
The death of Barcelona’s first-team doctor, Carles Minarro Garcia, postponed the match against Osasuna on March 8.
Since Raphinha and Ronald Araujo will likely miss the rescheduled match on March 17, The Athletic stated that Barcelona would appeal to the RFEF.
Anonymous Barcelona insiders expressed their dissatisfaction with the decision because Raphinha and Araujo will miss the rescheduled game due to international commitments: On Tuesday, March 25, Raphinha’s Brazil and Araujo’s Uruguay play Argentina and Bolivia in World Cup qualifiers.
The Cameroon lineup includes Osasuna’s Enzo Boyomo for the March 25 World Cup qualifier against Libya.
The international window, when confederations can organize fixtures and players must be available for their national teams, runs from March 17 to March 25 in FIFA’s official match calendar, so the game could be rescheduled for March 27.
