South Africa's Premier Soccer League (PSL) have given their blessing to the friendly clash between Mamelodi Sundowns and Barcelona on May 16, but it is still unclear whether the former will have to contest two matches in the space of 24 hours.
The match is a coup for South African football and will be played in honour of the late former state president Nelson Mandela as the country celebrates 100 years since the birth of the anti-Apartheid icon.
As such it has drawn wider than usual interest and the PSL have been quick to give their blessing, despite the fact they have denied such requests in the recent past.
The game will be played just three days before the country's Nedbank Cup final between Maritzburg United and Free State Stars on May 19, likely removing that fixture from the backpages in what will be a blow to the sponsors.
The PSL turned down a similar request from Ajax Cape Town in 2013 when they lined up a high-profile friendly against English Premier League side Liverpool, but the league refused the fixture on the basis that it would detract from the cup final.
But this time they have agreed to let the game go ahead due to the "extraordinary nature" of the game.
"The Premier Soccer League (PSL) received a request from Mamelodi Sundowns to play an international friendly match against FC Barcelona," the league said in a statement on Monday. "The match has been arranged to form part of the Nelson Mandela Centenary Celebrations.
"The League has always followed the same approach in respect of friendly matches in particular when these will [or might] impact the League or Cup competitions. This request, however, was of extraordinary nature in that it formed part of the Madiba Centenary Celebrations.
"Moreover, it had direct support both of sponsors Nedbank and [the South African] government, in light of the nature and importance of the event and the part football plays in bringing South Africans together.
"The Executive Committee of the League granted the requested subject to compliance with all of the relevant requirements of CAF and FIFA and also on the express basis that Mamelodi Sundowns will comply fully with every requirement of SASREA [Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act]."
It would appear then, that there is no hindrance to the fixture going ahead, despite the fact that Barcelona have yet to confirm it.
But Sundowns may yet have to make a mad dash back from their African Champions League clash away at Horoya in Guinea, with their request to have the game moved to a week later yet to receive official confirmation from CAF.
It puts CAF in something of a bind - they trumpeted the fact that they had now standardizsd fixtures for the Champions League and Confederation Cup to create certainty for fans and television broadcasters, but now just two weeks later are being asked to shift one of them for a friendly game.
Given those backing back the Sundowns-Barcelona game, it will be difficult for them to say no, but Brazilians coach Pitso Mosimane remains uncertain of whether he will have to field two teams in 24 hours.
"Whether the game on Tuesday [against Horoya] is there or not is on the edge. Probably the game will be postponed to next Wednesday and, if it is, it gives an opportunity to respect football and try to play a prepared team," Mosimane told reporters after Saturday's 1-1 draw with Wydad Casablanca.
"But if the friendly game is there also on Wednesday [against Barcelona] you have got to manage the team's legs."
The clash between Sundowns and the Spanish giants will be a great occasion for a worthy cause, but the timing is awful and you wonder if it could not instead have been combined into the pre-season plans of both clubs, with Mandela's actual birthday on July 18.
It is also unclear what sort of squad Barca will bring; certainly the Argentine, Uruguayan and Spanish FAs will be seething at the thought of their top players making an unscheduled trip to South Africa less than a month before the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.