Citing “the uncertainty that has arisen in Spain over the past few weeks,” LaLiga announced Tuesday it is scrapping plans to hold a league match between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami this December.
UEFA, the governing body for European soccer, approved the match’s move to the United States two weeks ago but did so “reluctantly,” saying it found no framework within FIFA statutes to oppose the move.
Then came player protests: LaLiga players stood still for the first 15 seconds of their games over the weekend in a coordinated response by the Spanish Footballers’ Association to the league’s “lack of transparency, dialogue and coherence.”
“LaLiga deeply regrets that this project, which represented a historic and unparalleled opportunity for the international expansion of Spanish soccer, will not be able to move forward,” the league’s statement said. “Holding an official match outside our borders would have been a decisive step in the global growth of the competition, strengthening the international presence of clubs, the positioning of players, and the visibility of Spanish soccer in a strategic market such as the United States.
“The project fully complied with all federative regulations and did not affect the integrity of the competition, as confirmed by the competent institutions responsible for ensuring compliance, which opposed it for other reasons.”
The league’s statement went on to say that “renouncing such opportunities” to find new markets “hinders the generation of new income.”
LaLiga had been working with promotion company Relevent, which sent a statement to The Athletic earlier Tuesday noting plans for the game had been “postponed” because there was not sufficient time to execute the event in the way they had wanted.
LaLiga and Relevent had teamed with Stephen Ross, owner of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, to bring a match to the United States. Barcelona-Villarreal would have been played on Dec. 20 at Hard Rock Stadium, the Dolphins’ home in Miami Gardens.
Adding a soccer match that weekend would have created some tricky logistics. The Dolphins are scheduled to host “Sunday Night Football” against the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 21, a game that may be flexed out to a normal afternoon slot. And college football’s Miami Hurricanes could be in line to host a College Football Playoff first-round game at the stadium on Dec. 20.
With the Miami plan scrapped, the Barcelona-Villarreal match is set to be played Dec. 21 as originally scheduled.
Barcelona players and coach Hansi Flick didn’t like the idea of extra travel being added to their itineraries. The Spanish giants are already being sent to Saudi Arabia for the Spanish Super Cup competition in early January.
“It’s not good for the players. You have to travel a lot,” Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong said earlier in October. “It’s also not fair in terms of competition. For us, it’s now an away match on neutral ground.”
–Field Level Media
