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.
Champions Barca were set to face Villarreal in the United States on December 20, which would have been the first European league fixture to be played abroad.
La Liga said their promoter for the match decided to cancel the organization of the event because of “uncertainty generated in Spain in recent weeks.”
The Spanish topflight said they “deeply regret that the project, which represented a historic and unparallelled opportunity to take Spanish football to the international stage, cannot go ahead.”
Tickets for the game at the Hard Rock Stadium were due to become available 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.
European football governing body UEFA said they opposed the idea of games being played overseas but would allow it on an exceptional basis, along with a Serie A match in Australia in February between AC Milan and Como.
The plan to hold the match in the United States was criticized by various parties.
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.
Spanish giants Real Madrid also railed against it institutionally, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said Tuesday it would adulterate the competition.
Madrid captain Dani Carvajal told La Liga president Javier Tebas the game being held abroad would be “a stain” on the competition.
La Liga have been trying to hold a match abroad for several years.