LaLiga, the entity that organizes the Spanish Championship, announced this Tuesday (21) the cancellation of the plan to hold one of its matches in the United States. It was planned that Villarreal and Barcelona would face each other at the Hard Rock Stadium, in Miami Gardens, on December 20th, which will no longer happen.
“LaLiga informs that, after conversations with the promoter of the Official LaLiga Match in Miami, it has communicated its decision to cancel the organization of the event due to the uncertainty generated in Spain during the last few weeks,” the organization said in a statement.
The entity was the target of multiple criticisms, with protests that influenced the change of plans. She “deeply regretted that the project, which represented a historic and unparalleled opportunity for the internationalization of Spanish football, could not go ahead.”
“The celebration of an official match outside our borders would have represented 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 declared.
LaLiga stressed that the initiative was within the regulations and “did not affect the integrity of the competition”.
Tickets for the match would be made available this Tuesday. Organizers initially stated that the pre-sale had been “postponed”, before the cancellation was announced.
The match will therefore be played at the Estadio de la Cerámica, in Villarreal.
European football’s governing body, UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), had expressed its opposition to holding national matches abroad. He said, however, that he would allow Villarreal x Barcelona in the United States in an “exceptional way” – as well as Milan x Como, in the Italian Championship, scheduled for Australia in February.
The AFE (Spanish Footballers’ Association) organized protests last weekend. Players stood still for 15 seconds at the start of each match.
Real Madrid also showed their dissatisfaction. Its goalkeeper, Belgian Thibaut Courtois, stated that transferring matches would tamper with the competition. Their captain, Dani Carvajal, declared that if the match were held abroad there would be “a stain” on the competition.
