La Liga cancels its plan to play regular season match in Miami

BARCELONA — La Liga's plan to hold a Barcelona match in Miami in December has been called off because of "uncertainty" about the game within Spain, the Spanish top flight said in a statement Tuesday.

Champion Barca was set to face Villarreal in the United States on Dec 20, which would have been the first European league fixture to be played abroad.

La Liga said its promoter for the match decided to cancel the organization of the event because of "uncertainty generated in Spain in recent weeks".

The Spanish top flight said it "deeply regrets that the project, which represented a historic and unparalleled opportunity to take Spanish football to the international stage, cannot go ahead".

Tickets for the game at the Hard Rock Stadium were due to go on sale on Tuesday, but organizers said the presale was "delayed" before the plan was scrapped.

The match will now be held at Villarreal's Estadio de la Ceramica home as normal.

"Barcelona respects and accepts the decision to cancel the match against Villarreal in Miami... just as we respected and accepted the decision to play when it was made at the time," said Barca in a statement.

The Catalan giant said it regrets "the lost opportunity to expand the image of the competition in a strategic market with growth potential "and that US-based fans "will be deprived of witnessing" the game in person.

La Liga published its statement during Villarreal's 2-0 Champions League defeat by Manchester City.

"It seems to me (to be) an absolute lack of respect to put out a statement about something that was planned, but will not happen, at halftime during a game," said Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia Toral.

"It's a lack of respect to the directors of the club, the club itself, the professionals and the fans.

"Tomorrow, the club will make a statement about what they think, those are my thoughts."

The plan to play the match in the US had already faced criticism.

The Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE) organized protests against it last weekend, with players from every team not moving for 15 seconds at the start of each league match.

Real Madrid also railed against it, lobbying FIFA and UEFA to refrain from sanctioning the fixture, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said Tuesday that the decision to organize the game "distorts the competition".

Madrid captain Dani Carvajal told La Liga president Javier Tebas the game being held abroad would be "a stain" on the league.

La Liga has been trying to hold a match abroad for several years, with this the closest it has come to doing so after European soccer governing body UEFA sanctioned the fixture.

UEFA said it opposed the idea of games being played overseas, but would allow it on an exceptional basis, along with a Serie A match set to take place in Australia in February between AC Milan and Como.

AFP