Madrid, Spain. The Spanish Soccer League on Tuesday canceled plans for Barcelona to play a regular-season game against Villarreal in Miami in December, a decision that was precipitated by mounting opposition domestically.
According to La Liga, the decision was made after conversations with the promoter of the match scheduled for December 20 and cited “the uncertainty generated in Spain in recent weeks.”
Relevent, the match’s promoter, said it informed La Liga of the need to “postpone the planned match” because “there is not enough time to properly execute an event of this magnitude.”
He added that “it would also be irresponsible to start selling tickets without having a confirmed match.”
The Spanish tournament had finally managed to obtain approval from football governing bodies such as UEFA and the Spanish federation to organize its first regular season match abroad. However, opposition from players, some clubs such as Real Madrid and fan groups recently gained strength in Spain.
“The League deeply regrets that this project, which represented a historic and unparalleled opportunity for the internationalization of Spanish football, cannot go forward,” the league said in a statement.
“The celebration of an official match outside our borders would have been a decisive step in the global expansion of our competition, reinforcing the international presence of the clubs, the positioning of the players and the brand of Spanish football in a strategic market such as the United States.”
He also asserted that the project “fully complied with the federative regulations and did not affect the integrity of the competition, as ratified by the competent institutions that ensure compliance, which were opposed due to other circumstances.”
But criticism against the party had worsened. Players protested during weekend league matches by standing still for a few seconds after kick-off.
Earlier on Tuesday, Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois criticized La Liga president Javier Tebas and complained about the league’s decision to censor players’ protests. The television broadcast of the matches changed before kick-off to an outside view of the stadiums and only showed part of the fields from a distance.
“We must play at home and away, except for force majeure,” said Courtois. “And it’s not the same because it’s not playing away from home, Villarreal away is a difficult game and everyone would have to do it at home and away.”
The League stated that the match was important to them “in a context of growing global competitiveness, where leagues such as the Premier League or competitions such as the UEFA Champions League continue to increase their reach and capacity to generate resources, initiatives such as this are essential to guarantee the sustainability and growth of Spanish football.”
“We will continue working, as always, to bring Spanish football to all corners of the world, defending an open, modern and competitive vision that benefits clubs, players and fans,” he added.
Hosting the match abroad has long been part of La Liga’s goal of promoting its brand in other countries. To help achieve the goal, a few years ago it signed a long-term partnership with Relevent Sports, a sports and entertainment event promoter that is part of Stephen Ross’ portfolio of companies, including Hard Rock Stadium, the Dolphins, the Formula One Miami Grand Prix and the Miami Open tennis tournament.
Plans for the La Liga match in Miami were renewed after FIFA withdrew from a legal action brought by Relevent in a Manhattan court. Weeks later, FIFA said it would review its rules and created a working group that includes UEFA lawyers.
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