Despite being named as the best option to host the Copa del Rey Final, Real Madrid's Stadium won't be available to have Barcelona and Alavés playing for the tournament's title there.
Speaking in a press conference to unveil a book celebrating Real Madrid's international accomplishments of 2016, Florentino Pérez revealed why Santiago Bernabeu Stadium won't be available to host the game.
"We won't be able to lend Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, because we have scheduled maintenance work for those dates. There's no shady business there. We've postponed work on the stadium for quite some time, we need to have it done now," Pérez stated.
Sources claim that Florentino Pérez doesn't want the game to take place there because back in 1997, Barcelona's president Joan Gaspart paid the man in charge of the speaker system to have Los Blaugranas' anthem played over and over.
The legendary stadium hasn't played host of the Copa del Rey final since the 2012-2013 edition of the tournament. Back then, Los Blancos lost against Atlético Madrid 2-1, in a thrilling match that was decided in extra time.
