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LaLiga EA Sports announced the cancellation of the match between Villarreal and FC Barcelona that was set to take place in Miami (USA) in December, following the event promoter's decision to withdraw “due to the uncertainty generated in Spain over the past few weeks”, as reported by the EFE agency.
The company regretted that a "historic opportunity" for the internationalization of the championship. was thwarted.
The cancellation occurred after discussions with the promoter of the Official Party of LaLiga in Miami, who communicated their decision to the organization.
LaLiga stated that the project “completely complied with the regulations” and did not affect the integrity of the competition, according to a report by EFE.
The employer emphasized that bringing an official match to the U.S. would have strengthened the international presence of clubs, players, and the brand of Spanish football in a strategic market.
The president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas described the cancellation as a "missed opportunity" to "advance, project itself to the world, and strengthen its future."
He also criticized the invocation of "tradition" from a "narrow and provincial perspective," referring to institutional resistances.
This is the second time the attempt to hold a league match in the United States has been blocked. In 2018, the Girona-Barcelona project did not succeed due to opposition from the RFEF, and the courts ruled against LaLiga in the first instance, on appeal, and finally, in the Supreme Court (September 2024).
Furthermore, EFE reminds us that the FIFA modified the International Match Regulations a year ago regarding matches outside the territory of the corresponding federation, introducing criteria such as the impact on competitiveness, potential disruptions for teams from the host country, and the safety of fans and players.
LaLiga maintains that initiatives like this are crucial in an increasingly competitive global landscape—where the Premier League and UEFA Champions League are expanding their reach and revenue—and that forgoing them would hinder resource generation and limit the investment capacity of Spanish clubs.
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) had announced that, as an exceptional measure, it would approve the request from the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for the Villarreal–Barcelona match, corresponding to the seventeenth round of LaLiga, to be held in Miami.
However, fans and football players doubted the initiative from the very beginning.
Protests occurred on the playing fields. During the first few seconds of each match, the players stopped and did not engage with the ball.
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