Why English fans won't be able to watch Jude Bellingham against Barcelona
Jude Bellingham makes his El Clasico debut this weekend by viewers in England will be left disappointed.
The England international has been an absolute revelation since making an £88 million move to Real Madrid in the summer.
He scored his 11th goal in 12 games on Tuesday night as Los Blancos beat Braga 2-1 in the Champions League.
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Wearing the No.5 on his back as Zinedine Zidane did all those years ago, Bellingham is easily one of the best players in world football right now and there's already talk of him being a Ballon d'Or winner in the making.
The former Borussia Dortmund man's next test comes on Saturday when he participates in the biggest fixture in Spanish football for the first time.
Bellingham did start the friendly in Arlington, Texas in the summer but he is preparing to make his first appearance in Real Madrid vs Barcelona in a competitive capacity.
It all goes down at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium, Barca's temporary home while the Nou Camp is renovated, at 3.15pm UK time.
However, the slot means that it cannot be screened on these shores because it goes against the UK blackout rule.
Since the 1960s, the rule has been in place prohibiting live football being shown on TV or online between 2.45pm and 5.15pm.
The ban's purpose is to protect attendance at games but bizarrely it also applies to foreign fixtures in leading European leagues.
Often UK TV coverage of a Serie A game will start 15 minutes into the game because of the rule.
But Keegan Pierce, LaLiga’s UK and Ireland Managing Director, is not happy with the directive.
"We’re disappointed that British fans cannot watch El Clasico this weekend due to the UK’s self- imposed Saturday 3pm rule," he said, as per The Sun.
"While we fully support measures to promote attendance, we believe the blackout should be limited to the televising of domestic football, not overseas competitions.”
ITV have rights to ten La Liga games per season made up of the big sides but streaming service Viaplay have the majority of matches.
Unfortunately, the 3pm rule doesn't look to be changing anytime soon as Premier League sides voted to keep it in place until 2029.
Topics: Jude Bellingham, La Liga, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona
Josh Lawless