La Liga have announced the shock decision to cancel plans to host Villarreal’s home fixture against Barcelona at the end of December in Miami, USA. The announcement comes less than two weeks after the league had confirmed the game.
The plan had been on the table for the past eight years, but has never come this far due to institutional disagreements. This time La Liga had all of the green lights necessary from the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and UEFA, that might have halted their plans. Yet with exactly two months before the clash, the promoters of the event have pulled out.
Miami game cancelled due to ‘uncertainty generated in Spain’
On Tuesday night, La Liga released a press statement announcing that they ‘deeply regretted’ that the game would not be going ahead, calling it a decisive step for the global expansion of the competition. They also note that the decision is not based on the ‘corrupting of the competition’, the basis of Real Madrid’s complaint, and that it had been ratified by all of the relevant bodies.
Alejandro Balde: "The feelings going into the Clásico are good, but in a Barça – Madrid match, it doesn't matter if you're coming in stronger or weaker. It's a game where anything can happen."
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) October 21, 2025
Yet it seems promoter Relevent, who were selling tickets and marketing the game, have pulled out. La Liga say this is due to ‘uncertainty generated in Spain’ over recent weeks, but give no more details on their reasoning.
Protests over Miami game
The reality is that there has been little in the way of strong opposition, outside of Real Madrid’s complaints that it makes La Liga uneven, due to the altering of the ‘home and away’ nature of the competition. The Spanish Footballers Association (AFE) carried out protests during the games this past weekend, but their stated issues were with the organisation of the games, rather than the concept itself.
It may be worth mentioning that Relevent have also recently bought TV rights from UEFA for Champions League games in the USA. The governing body in Europe had stated that while they had no legal basis for opposing the decision, they were not in favour of the idea.
La Liga’s official statement
LALIGA deeply regrets that this project, which represented a historic and unparalleled opportunity for the internationalization of Spanish football, cannot go ahead.
Hosting an official match outside our borders would have been a decisive step in the global expansion of our competition, strengthening the international presence of the clubs, the positioning of the players, and the brand of Spanish football in a strategic market such as the United States.
The project fully complied with federation regulations and did not affect the integrity of the competition, as ratified by the competent institutions that oversee compliance, which were opposed for other reasons.
In a context of increasing global competitiveness, where leagues like the Premier League and competitions like the UEFA Champions League continue to increase their reach and resource-generating capacity, initiatives like this are essential to ensuring the sustainability and growth of Spanish football.
Forgoing these types of opportunities hinders the generation of new revenue, limits clubs’ ability to invest and compete, and diminishes the international reach of the entire Spanish football ecosystem. Finally, LALIGA would like to thank the clubs for their willingness and collaboration in this project, as well as their ongoing commitment to the growth of the competition.
We will continue working, as always, to bring Spanish football to all corners of the world, championing an open, modern, and competitive vision that benefits clubs, players, and fans.
