MADRID: The Spanish Super Cup tournament will be played in Saudi Arabia in January 2020, the national soccer association (RFEF) said yesterday.
“The Spanish Super Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia over the next three years and will be held in winter with the objective of easing fixture congestion, as players and clubs have been calling for,” RFEF said in a statement yesterday.
“Thanks to this transformation, clubs will be able to better plan their pre-seasons.
“The internationalisation of the competition will increase its value and at the same time contribute to raising our visibility and improving our image ahead of our bid to host the 2030 World Cup.”
The federation declined to say how much the deal was worth but said all income earned from the revamped tournament would be reinvested in amateur football and women’s football, aside from money granted to the four competing clubs.
Spanish newspaper ABC said the federation would earn between 35-40 million euros ($39-$44 million) per year from the deal.
Barcelona were drawn to face Atletico Madrid and Valencia will take on Real Madrid in the revamped tournament between Jan. 8-12.
Those games as well as the final featuring the winner of the two matches will take place at the 62,000-capacity King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah.