Madrid, Oct 23 (IANS): The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Wednesday decided that the first 'El Clasico' of the season between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid should be played on December 18.

The game was due to be played this coming Saturday, October 26, but was postponed because of the "exceptional circumstances" surrounding the ongoing disturbances in the Catalan region following the long prison terms handed to Catalan separatist leaders, Xinhua news reported.

Had the game been played this Saturday at the scheduled 13:00 hours it would have clashed with a massive protest match planned in Barcelona for the same time.

"The decision of the RFEF Competition Committee was reached after looking at the proposals of both clubs and inviting them to reach agreement over the date and they coincided in agreeing on December 18 for the postponed match," commented the RFEF in a press release.

However, the date chosen by the RFEF will cause further problems given that December 18 clashes with the scheduling of the Copa del Rey knockout competition with sides from the Liga Santander due to make their debuts in that tournament over the period December 17-19 and the Spanish Football League (LaLiga) has still to give its OK to the decision.