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The Spanish Football League has canceled its plans to hold a regular season match between Villarreal and Barcelona next December.
In August, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) approved plans to move Villarreal’s match against Barcelona to Hard Rock Stadium on 20 December – a decision that sparked outrage in Spain.
Plans to stage a Premier League match outside Spain for the first time faced a major backlash, with players refusing to move during the first 15 seconds of La Liga matches at the weekend.
The match’s promoters, Relevent, stated that the reason for the cancellation was “insufficient time” to organize the event, with La Liga also citing “uncertainty in Spain”.
La Liga said it “deeply regrets” the postponement and described it as a blow to “the international image of the entire football ecosystem.”
La Liga also believes that staging an official match outside Spain would be a “decisive step in the global expansion” of its competition, and that “missing such opportunities makes it difficult to generate new revenues.”
This was the first time a Europa League match was held in the United States, although the Spanish Super Cup has been held in Saudi Arabia in four of the past five seasons.
After the Miami match was originally confirmed, the Italian Football Federation decided to approve a Serie A match between Milan and Como to be played in Perth, Australia, in February.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick had previously said that “his players are not happy” and that he is “not happy,” but “the Spanish League decided that we will play this match.”
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