After Heavy Pushback, LaLiga’s Controversial Miami Match Canceled

LaLiga is scrapping its controversial regular-season match in Miami scheduled for December.

Relevent Sports, the international soccer promoter organizing the U.S. affair, called off the effort Tuesday.

“Relevent has informed LaLiga of the need to postpone the planned match between Villarreal CF and FC Barcelona in Miami on December 20,” a spokesperson for Relevent said. “Given the current uncertainty in Spain, there is insufficient time to properly execute an event of this scale. It would also be irresponsible to begin selling tickets without a confirmed match in place.”

Villarreal will now host Barcelona back home in Spain on Dec. 21.

In a separate statement, LaLiga said, “LaLiga deeply regrets that this project, which represented a historic and unparalleled opportunity for the internationalisation of Spanish football, cannot go ahead. The staging of an official match outside our borders would have been a decisive step in the global expansion of our competition, strengthening the international presence of clubs, the positioning of players and the Spanish football brand in a strategic market such as the United States.”

It would have been the first regular-season match from a major European soccer league played in the U.S.

Barcelona and Villarreal players were not happy with the move, and in recent days protested during LaLiga matches played domestically. 

LaLiga’s statement continued, “The project fully complied with federation regulations and did not affect the integrity of the competition, as confirmed by the competent institutions that oversee compliance, which opposed it for other reasons. In a context of increasing global competitiveness, where leagues such as the Premier League and competitions such as the UEFA Champions League continue to increase their reach and ability to generate resources, initiatives such as this are essential to ensure the sustainability and growth of Spanish football. Passing up such opportunities makes it difficult to generate new revenue, limits clubs’ ability to invest and compete, and reduces the international profile of the entire football ecosystem.”

Relevent is owned by real estate developer Stephen Ross—who also owns the Dolphins—whose Hard Rock Stadium was set to host the soccer match. Relevent has worked with LaLiga to bring a game to Miami for years, and finally received reluctant approval from UEFA this month, alongside a decision to approve the Italian federation’s request to move a Serie A game to Australia in February, citing “regulatory gaps” in FIFA rules. In August, the Spanish federation approved LaLiga’s request to move the match to Miami.

The move was still waiting for final approval from FIFA, which has a long-standing ban against teams playing domestic league games abroad. That rule has been under pressure in court, including from the Relevent case, prompting FIFA to create a working group to focus on the issue last year.

It’s unclear what steps Relevent and LaLiga will take next, or whether they will attempt to move a different game to Miami this season.