This year will be the fourth consecutive Copa del Rey final to be held at the Olympic stadium of La Cartuja in Seville, but until when will this be the venue for the cup final?
Although at the moment there is no official confirmation, they are negotiating that the 2013-2024 final will also take place in the Seville capital, since the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, made an agreement by which the that would be held in the Cartuja, but two of them had to be without an audience, so he estimates that it could be extended for another year to make up for the fact that the celebration could not be complete.
The two finals that were held at the Cartuja behind closed doors were the one corresponding to the 2019-2020 season between Real Sociedad and Athletic Club (1-0) and the 2021-2021 final between F.C. Barcelona and Real Sociedad (4-0).
Finally, in the last 2021-2022 edition, a cup final could be experienced in Seville in all its splendor between Real Betis Balompié, with the fortune in addition to playing on their land, and Valencia, a match that ended in favor of the team home in the penalty shootout.
One of the changes that the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation made in the Copa del Rey was to establish a fixed headquarters to avoid the controversies that often arose with the previous system.
For this, it held a contest to choose the venue where the finals would be played from 2019 to 2013, based on criteria such as having a football stadium with a minimum capacity of 45,000 spectators and that the city had a hotel, tourist and enough transportation to accommodate the constant arrival of fans, among other factors.
After the presentation of candidacies and the deliberation of the RFEF, the Olympic stadium of La Cartuja was chosen to host the final in the following 4 editions. In principle, this 2023 final should be the last according to the contract, although the text is open to extension if eventualities occur, as has happened, since two of the events had to be held behind closed doors, hence they are in negotiations and not confirmed that Seville can be another year the venue for the cup final.
Before Rubiales' arrival at the head of the Federation, the system was different but it used to generate bitter controversy. The venue was decided once the teams had qualified for the final and a location was sought that was convenient for the fans of both teams, an appropriate place where they could fit, equidistant as far as possible or by agreement between the two finalists.
However, this system aroused dispute because usually the big teams pulled more towards home and caused problems. Hence, the president of the federation made the determination to set a fixed venue for the celebration of the final, whoever qualified would qualify. The first agreement was for the venue to be the Olympic stadium of the Cartuja in Seville for the 4 editions between 2019 and 2023, which is now being considered to be extended by one year.
