La scheduled Barcelona match in Miami for December has been canceled due to uncertainty within Spain, La Liga announced on Tuesday. The match between Champions Barca and Villarreal was set to be the first European league fixture played abroad. The match was supposed to take place at the Hard Rock Stadium, but due to recent uncertainties in Spain, the event has been called off.
La Liga expressed disappointment that the historic opportunity to showcase Spanish football on an international platform had to be scrapped. Tickets for the game were supposed to go on sale but were delayed and eventually canceled. The match will now be held at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica as originally planned.
Barcelona released a statement expressing their acceptance of the decision and regretting the missed chance to expand the competition’s reach in a key market. La Liga’s announcement coincided with Villarreal’s Champions League defeat by Manchester City, prompting criticism from Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia Toral for the timing of the statement.
The plan to move the match to the United States faced opposition from various groups, including the Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE) and Real Madrid. Players protested the decision during league matches, and Real Madrid players and officials voiced their concerns about the move. La Liga had been pursuing the idea of holding a match abroad for some time, and this was the closest they had come to realizing it after receiving permission from UEFA.
While UEFA generally opposes games being played overseas, they made exceptions for La Liga and a Serie A match scheduled to take place in Australia.