All you need to know about the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia

Spanish football's governing bodies are at loggerheads with each other and even the government have got involved.

The decision taken earlier this month to overhaul the Spanish Super Cup into a mid-season tournament and relocate it to Saudi Arabia has gone down like a lead balloon.

The human rights record - noted as 'abysmal' by Amnesty International - in the Middle East country has dominated the agenda.

But La Liga have their own grievances with the Spanish FA having been repeatedly denied in their desire to stage league games abroad.

As the feud threatens to rumble on, there are some positives to take.

Women will be allowed into the stadiums as Saudi Arabia relax their conservative laws, and it was recently confirmed that the tournament will host goal-line technology - for the first time ever in Spanish football history.

What is the Spanish Super Cup?

Traditionally it's been the annual curtain-raiser, in a similar vein to the Community Shield, played between the league champions and the Copa del Rey winners. If one team won the double, then it would be the league runners-up who would provide the opposition.

In recent years it has been a two-legged affair, played at both teams' home grounds.

Last year it changed, with Barcelona and Sevilla playing just once, and in the Moroccan city of Tangier.

That was perhaps a sign of things to come. The annual curtain-raiser is no more.

Now it is a mid-season tournament, expanded to include four teams - both finalists from the previous season's Copa del Rey and the remaining highest ranked teams from the previous year's league campaign.

Who's playing in it?

Valencia were the surprise Copa del Rey winners last season, beating Barcelona 2-1 in Seville for their first triumph since 2008.

Atletico Madrid, second last season, and neighbours Real, who finished third, make up the rest of the numbers.

The draw for the new-fangled competition was held just outside Madrid earlier this month and managed to keep the two Clasico titans apart.

Valencia play Real Madrid on January 8, with Barcelona facing Atletico a day later. On January 12 the winners will contest the final.

All three matches will be held at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

So why isn't it in Spain?

Money and exposure appear to be the big reasons that have tempted the Spanish Football Federation's president, Luis Rubiales, to take such a leap into the unknown.

Spanish newspaper ABC claim the federation will earn between £29-34million per year from the three-year deal to host this tournament in the Middle East.

A statement from the Spanish FA claimed the tournament would 'ease fixture congestion' and allow clubs 'to be able to better plan their pre-seasons'.

'The internationalisation of the competition will increase its value and contribute to raising our visibility and improving our image ahead of our bid to host the 2030 World Cup,' added RFEF.

Saudi Arabia... why?

A good question from afar. From the 'abysmal' human rights record to the lack of freedom of expression and women's rights, Saudi Arabia does not immediately paint itself as a natural host.

It forms part of the Kingdom's attempts to attract new visitors by staging sporting and entertainment events that take it away from its oil-dependent economy.

Anthony Joshua's highly-anticipated rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr - dubbed Clash of Dunes - took place in Diriyah on Saturday. Tyson Fury's WWE debut was staged in Riyadh last month.

Italy's own Supercoppa Italiana was held there in January with Juventus beating AC Milan 1-0. Juve will face Lazio in this season's edition in Riyadh on December 22.

Saudi Arabia has both the resources and facilities to host these major sporting events now, if not the reputation. And that's before you get into the moral opposition.

It hasn't gone down well then?

No. La Liga aren't happy for starters.

For years now, La Liga's president Javier Tebas, who resigned from the position this month, has been desperate to move league games abroad.

La Liga signed a 15-year deal with entertainment company Relevant in 2018 to promote Spanish football in North America, which included hosting one game per season stateside.

Their plan to play Girona's match with Barcelona in Miami last January fell through after Barca withdrew from the proposal, citing a lack of institutional support. Yet the league has applied to hold the December 6 game between Villarreal and Atletico Madrid in Miami, although Rubiales has said his organisation, which would have to agree to the move, continues to oppose playing league games abroad

'Only the Super Cup can leave Spain, games in domestic competition cannot leave our borders,' he said this month.

Tebas also opposed the choice of host, because channel beoutQ carried pirate broadcasts in Saudi Arabia of Spanish football.

Spanish TV haven't reacted well either, and will boycott the event. Spain's TV giants Atresmedia, Mediaset and RTVE have all declared that they will not be bidding for the re-transmission rights to broadcast the semi-final and final.

Spain's acting junior minister for sport, Maria Jose Rienda, said the government would not support holding the competition 'in countries where women's rights are not respected'.

Are there any positives to take?

Perhaps. Among the various human rights violations in Saudi Arabia are those that affect women. Efforts to change this oppression have got underway in recent years.

A ban on women attending football matches in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom was lifted in 2017 as part of a wider easing of social restrictions championed by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

Under his rule, the Kingdom has lifted a ban on women driving, eased rules on gender segregation and women's dress code, and chipped away at a guardianship system that gives male relatives control over key decisions in women's lives.

A crucial bargaining chip in the negotiations to bring the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia was the guarantee that women must be allowed to freely attend and dress as they desire. The Spanish federation have guaranteed that women will face no restrictions on entering the stadium during the tournament

However, some barriers remain and several women activists have been put on trial in recent years. Spain women's international Veronica Boquete heavily criticised the decision in September, when the move was mooted, saying it represented 'the victory of money and business above sport, above everything else'.

On a lighter note the competition will also see the use of goal-line technology in Spanish football for the first time in their history. Every cloud.