Game off: Spanish league cancels plans to play match in Miami

MADRID (AP):

The Spanish football league said yesterday that plans for Barcelona to play a regular-season game against Villarreal outside Miami in December have been called off, a decision that comes following increased opposition to the match domestically.

The league said the decision was made after conversations with the promoter of the planned December 20 match and cited the "uncertainty that has arisen in Spain over the past few weeks."

Game promoter Relevent said it informed La Liga of the need to "postpone the planned match" because "there is insufficient time to properly execute an event of this scale."

It added that "it would also be irresponsible to begin selling tickets without a confirmed match in place."

The league had finally succeeded in getting approval from football bodies such as UEFA and the Spanish federation to stage its first regular-season game abroad. But opposition by players, some clubs and fans had grown recently in Spain.

The Spanish league "deeply regrets that this project, which represented a historic and unparalleled opportunity for the international expansion of Spanish soccer, will not be able to move forward."

The league said "holding an official match outside our borders would have been a decisive step in the global growth of the competition, strengthening the international presence of clubs, the positioning of players, and the visibility of Spanish soccer in a strategic market such as the United States."

It said "the project fully complied with all federative regulations and did not affect the integrity of the competition, as confirmed by the competent institutions responsible for ensuring compliance, which opposed it for other reasons."

But the criticism against the game had grown recently, with players protesting during the weekend league games by standing still for a few seconds after kickoff.

Earlier yesterday Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois criticised Spanish league president Javier Tebas and complained about the league's decision to censor the protests by the players. The television feed of games switched before kickoff to an exterior view of the stadiums and only showed part of the fields from distance.

Madrid has been one of the clubs most loudly protesting against the game, saying it would alter the fairness of the competition. Villarreal was officially the home team for the match that was set to be played at Hard Rock Stadium.

"Teams should play home and away," Courtois said. "It's not the same to play against a team at home and away. It's hard to play on the road in the Spanish league. Playing on the road at Villarreal's field is very tough. Every team has to play at home and away unless there is a major reason for that not to happen."