La Liga announces cancellation of Villarreal-Barcelona match’s move to Miami | La Liga

La Liga announced it would no longer stage Villarreal against Barcelona in Miami in December, citing “uncertainty” caused by the critical response to the plans in Spain.

The Spanish elite had attached great importance to the organization of some of its matches abroad and deplored its inability to follow through on its plans in a long press release published Tuesday evening.

The decision was taken – in collaboration with the game’s promoter, Relevent – to “cancel the organization of the event due to the uncertainty in Spain in recent weeks”, La Liga said, adding that it “deeply regrets” such an outcome. “Organizing an official match outside our borders would have been a decisive step in the global development of the competition,” said the press release.

The statement then suggests that La Liga needed new ways to generate money due to the Premier League’s continued dominance. “In an increasingly competitive global landscape, where leagues such as the Premier League or competitions like the UEFA Champions League continue to expand their reach and revenue-generating capacity, initiatives like this are essential to ensure the sustainability and growth of Spanish football,” he said.

“Forgoing such opportunities hinders the generation of new revenue, limits the ability of clubs to invest and compete, and reduces the international projection of the entire Spanish football ecosystem.”

La Liga’s enthusiasm for away matches has been lacking elsewhere. The last meetings were disrupted by the demonstrations last weekend. The players refused to move for the first 15 seconds of the match, with the Spanish Footballers’ Association saying the decision to “symbolically protest” was made due to the league’s “lack of transparency, dialogue and consistency” regarding the Miami match.

Real Madrid have filed two complaints about the transfer with the Spanish Sports Ministry, with their manager, Xabi Alonso, saying his team was against it because it “distorts the competition”. Alonso’s goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said: “La Liga does what it wants because it suits them.”

The protests followed UEFA’s decision this month to “reluctantly” allow the match, as well as a Serie A match between Milan and Como in Perth, Australia, to take place. The European governing body, which also has a working relationship with Relevent, said at the time that it “reiterated its clear opposition to domestic league matches being played outside their home country”, adding: “However… the UEFA executive committee has reluctantly taken the decision to approve, on an exceptional basis, the two requests submitted to it.” »

In a separate statement, first published in The Athletic, Relevent said it had informed La Liga of the need to “postpone” the match, arguing that uncertainty in Spain had left “insufficient time to properly execute an event of this scale”.

Following Villarreal’s Champions League defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday evening, in which the news was released, club manager Marcelino slammed the timing of the announcement.

After the club’s press officer asked only about the match, Marcelino was still questioned. “OK, I’m going to answer just one question and I’m going to be clear,” he said. “I think it’s an absolute lack of respect for them to issue a statement at half-time about something they knew wouldn’t be done. It’s a lack of respect to the management, the club, the professionals and the fans… the club will issue an official statement tomorrow saying what they think. What I think is this.”

Marcelino was questioned again a few questions later. “I made that clear, didn’t I?” he said. “One question, one answer. I repeat: I found out at the end of the game, and the rest of what I said is just my opinion.”