British viewers hoping to see Luis Suarez's debut in El Clasico next weekend could miss ex-Liverpool striker's first actions as a Barcelona player due to UK broadcasting rules.
Suarez -- an 80 million-euro summer signing from Liverpool -- is coming to the end of his lengthy ban for biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini while playing for Uruguay at the World Cup, and will be eligible to play in a competitive match again for the first time when Barca make the trip to face arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Saturday, Oct. 25.
The match is one of the most high-profile domestic league fixtures in world football, with an estimated worldwide television audience of around 400 million viewers, but that will not include viewers in the UK, for the first 15 minutes.
Due to British broadcasting regulations, live matches are not allowed to be broadcast between 15:00 and 17:15 local time in order to, according to the Premier League, "protect match attendances and atmosphere at all levels of the game."
As this season's first clasico kicks off at 17:00 UK time, viewers tuning in to Sky Sports' coverage will only join the action a quarter of an hour into the match.
Given it will be the first time he can be named in a squad by Barca coach Luis Enrique, Suarez is unlikely to make his first start in such a key fixture, though it remains a possibility.
The 27-year-old has not played a competitive match since the World Cup group match against Italy in June, but has featured in behind-closed-doors friendlies for Barca and international friendlies for Uruguay after FIFA partially upheld an appeal against his ban from "all football-related activity."