The Spanish Players Association (AFE) released a strong statement on Thursday showing their opposition to La Liga’s plan to hold a match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami in December.
League president Javier Tebas is very optimistic his plan will go ahead after approval from the Federation
, but the decision has caused plenty of controversy, with Real Madrid one of the loudest voices in opposition to the game being played overseas.And the union has now also spoken against the plan after holding
a meeting with the captains of all 20 first division teams on Thursday, and released the following statement:
“The Spanish Players Association (AFE) and all the First Division captains met this Thursday afternoon to assess the request that, as announced by the RFEF on August 11, it would submit to UEFA and FIFA for the playing of a La Liga match this season outside of Spain.
“AFE requested a detailed report from the League so it could inform the players and obtain their opinions. In its response, the association denied any responsibility for anticipating the plan and only promised to provide information on the progress of the authorization process.
“Given this situation, we believe that, due to the lack of dialogue and information for the players, the initiation of the procedures for a project promoted by the League and approved without any information by the RFEF Board of Directors is disrespectful to the footballers when it involves changes at the sporting level and a displacement as workers outside the national territory within the framework of a domestic league.
“We are united. We want respect and transparency.”
The presidents of the league and both Barça and Villarreal have publicly been in favor of moving the match to Miami for the obvious commercial reasons and benefits it presents, but their response to a very strong and united statement by the players, including the captains of their own clubs, will be very interesting to watch.
