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British viewers set to miss kick-off in Suarez debut

Luis Suarez could make his first competitive appearance for Barcelona against Real Madrid next Saturday © Getty Images

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British viewers hoping to see Luis Suarez's debut in El Clasico next weekend could miss his first kick as a Barcelona player due to UK broadcasting rules.

Suarez - a £65 million 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 Barcelona make the trip to face arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Saturday, October 25.

The match is one of the most high-profile 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 at least.

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 Barcelona coach Luis Enrique, Suarez is unlikely to make his first start in such a key fixture, though it remains a possibility.

Suarez 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".

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