LaLiga has called off plans to hold a regular-season game this December between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami, the league announced on Tuesday.
A short statement released by LaLiga explained the decision was taken by Relevent, the league’s partner in the North American market, due to the reaction generated in Spain by the decision to hold a league fixture on foreign soil.
“Following discussions with the promoter of the match in Miami, the latter has announced its decision to cancel the organisation of the event due to the uncertainty generated in Spain in recent weeks,” LaLiga said.
“LaLiga deeply regrets that this project, which represented a historic and unparalleled opportunity for the internationalisation of Spanish football, cannot go ahead.
“The staging of an official match outside our borders would have been a decisive step in the global expansion of our competition, strengthening the international presence of clubs, the positioning of players and the Spanish football brand in a strategic market such as the United States.
“The project fully complied with federation regulations and did not affect the integrity of the competition, as confirmed by the competent institutions that oversee compliance, which opposed it for other reasons.”
A statement from Relevent confirmed: “We have informed LaLiga of the need to postpone the planned match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami on Dec. 20.
“Given the current uncertainty in Spain, there is insufficient time to properly execute an event of this scale. It would also be irresponsible to begin selling tickets without a confirmed match in place.”
Tickets for the match — which had been planned to be played at Hard Rock Stadium — had been set to go on sale this week.
On Tuesday, LaLiga announced that selling presale tickets would be delayed but attributed the delay to a technical issue.
The move had faced opposition from LaLiga players, who staged a protest last weekend, as well as fan groups and Real Madrid, who had called on FIFA, UEFA and Spain’s Sports Ministry (CSD) to block the plans.
The game between Villarreal and Barcelona was set to be the first regular-season game in one of Europe’s Big Five leagues to be held overseas.
Italy’s Serie A is planning to play a match between AC Milan and Como in Perth, Australia, in February.
On Tuesday, Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois became the latest player to voice his opposition to playing the LaLiga game in Miami, saying doing so would “totally affect the integrity of the competition.”
Earlier this month, Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong said the plan was “not good for the players” citing fatigue from travel and concerns around fairness, while coach Hansi Flick admitted he and his squad were “not happy.”
Last weekend, players paused for 15 seconds at the start of each LaLiga game in protest at what players’ union AFE said was a “lack of transparency, dialogue and coherence” in how the Miami match had been organized.
The plan to play Villarreal vs. Barcelona in Miami was made official earlier this month, with LaLiga president Javier Tebas calling it a “historic step” and saying the aim was to bring the league “closer to that global fanbase.”
The league has long worked to hold a regular-season game in the United States, with its first proposal involving a match between Girona and Barcelona in the 2018-19 season.
It initially faced opposition from the Spanish football federation and U.S. Soccer, which has since faded.
This month UEFA said it had “reluctantly” taken the decision to approve the Miami game, stating its “clear opposition to domestic league matches being played outside their home country” but saying FIFA’s current rules on the subject are “not clear and detailed enough.”
Real Madrid had called the Miami game an “unacceptable precedent” and asked the CSD to refuse authorization of the match “without unanimous consent.”
The CSD had made no official statement on the match, although Spanish government ministers had voiced concerns over the idea.
