La Liga has cancelled plans to stage a regular-season match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami this December, citing insufficient time to organise the event and ongoing uncertainty in Spain.
The fixture, originally set for 20 December at Hard Rock Stadium, would have marked the first time a European top-flight league match was played in the United States. However, the decision has now been reversed, and the match will take place at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Cerámica as initially scheduled.
The Spanish football federation (RFEF) had approved the move in August, but the proposal sparked backlash across Spanish football. Over the past weekend, La Liga players staged silent protests by refusing to move for the first 15 seconds of matches.
Promoters Relevent confirmed the cancellation, citing logistical challenges, while La Liga expressed disappointment, calling the decision a setback for the league’s international ambitions. In a statement, La Liga said it “deeply regrets” the postponement and described it as a blow to the “international profile of the entire football ecosystem”. The league added that passing up such opportunities “makes it difficult to generate new revenue”.
The timing of the announcement has also drawn criticism. News of the cancellation emerged during Villarreal’s 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League. Speaking after the match, Villarreal head coach Marcelino said the decision showed “absolute disrespect” to the club.
“It is absolutely disrespectful to the club, professionals and board of directors and fans,” Marcelino said. “From here onwards, the club will send an official communication but this is just what I think.”
Barcelona responded by saying it “respects and accepts” the decision, but “regrets the missed opportunity to expand the competition’s image” in a market with strong growth potential. The club added it “regrets deeply” that fans in the United States are “denied the opportunity to see an official game in their country”.
Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick had previously stated that he and his players were “not happy” about the decision to move the fixture abroad, but had accepted it as “La Liga decided that we will play this game”.
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague told BBC Radio 5 Live he does not believe this will be the end of La Liga’s efforts to stage matches abroad.
“Whilst Javier Tebas is the head of La Liga, he will try to get one game away,” Balague said. “He thinks that it is a project aimed at enhancing the visibility of Spanish football. It complied fully with federation regulations. The position on the project was just for reasons unrelated to regulatory or sporting integrity.”
Balague believes financial confusion may have played a role in the match being called off.
“Perhaps there was not enough money, perhaps the money was not clear where it was going,” he said. “Villarreal were saying, ‘We are not getting any money for it’, but Barcelona were saying, ‘As soon as we get into the plane, we will get money’. It was not clear how Villarreal had promised about 5,000 of their fans would go to Miami, or how that was going to happen.”
The cancellation comes just months after the Italian football federation announced a Serie A match between AC Milan and Como would be played in Perth, Australia, in February, showing increasing interest in taking domestic football abroad.
