La Liga Cancels Villarreal vs Barcelona Match in Miami
La Liga has officially canceled plans to host a regular-season match between Villarreal and Barcelona in December.
In August, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) approved the relocation of Villarreal's fixture against Barcelona to Hard Rock Stadium on December 20. This decision, however, faced significant backlash within Spain.
The initiative to hold a top-flight game outside of Spain for the first time was met with widespread discontent, leading players to refuse to start matches in La Liga for the first 15 seconds over the weekend.
Match promoters, Relevent, cited "insufficient time" to organize the event as the reason for the cancellation, while La Liga also mentioned "uncertainty in Spain" as a contributing factor.
La Liga expressed its deep regret over the postponement, describing it as a setback for the "international profile of the entire football ecosystem." The league had viewed the staging of an official match outside Spain as a crucial step in its global expansion, arguing that missing such opportunities complicates efforts to generate new revenue.
This match would have marked the first instance of a European top-flight league game taking place in the United States, although the Spanish Super Cup has been hosted in Saudi Arabia for four of the past five seasons.
Following the initial confirmation of the Miami game, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) announced plans to sanction a Serie A match between AC Milan and Como to be held in Perth, Australia, in February.
Barcelona's coach, Hansi Flick, previously expressed dissatisfaction, stating that neither he nor his players were pleased with the situation, but that "La Liga decided we would play this game."
'It's not the end of the story' - Balague
Despite the cancellation, Spanish football expert Guillem Balague believes this is not the final chapter. He shared his thoughts on BBC Radio 5 Live, stating, "As long as Javier Tebas remains at the helm of La Liga, he will pursue the goal of hosting a game abroad. He sees this as a project aimed at enhancing the visibility of Spanish football. The initiative adhered fully to federation regulations, and the issues surrounding it were unrelated to regulatory or sporting integrity."
Balague suggested that financial concerns were a primary factor in the match's cancellation. "Perhaps there wasn't enough funding, or the allocation of funds was unclear, leading to considerable confusion," he noted. "Villarreal claimed they would not receive any money, yet they also stated that they would secure funds once they boarded the plane. It was unclear how Villarreal had anticipated that around 5,000 fans would travel to Miami or how that would be facilitated."