Perhaps the “biggest obstacle” La Liga President Javier Tebas “must overcome” to see his plan to play a La Liga game in Miami “come to fruition comes in the form of the players,” according to Roberto Casillas of SI. Earlier this week, the Spanish Association of Soccer Players (AFE) released a statement “opposing the clash in Miami.” Recently it was announced that La Liga and the Spanish Soccer Federation (RFEF) “approved the plans” for Barcelona and Villarreal’s “upcoming league fixture to be played at Hard Rock Stadium” in Miami. FIFA, who “previously opposed such a scenario, also gave the green light.” Tebas’s dream “appeared closed to coming true.” However, the decision has been “met with backlash from teams, managers and players throughout the Spanish soccer landscape.” Real Madrid was the “first to put out a strongly-worded statement that loudly rejected the decision.” A number of other La Liga club presidents “took to the media to voice their strong opposition” to La Liga’s Miami plan. Spanish sports newspaper Diario AS noted that “only Barcelona and Villarreal have backed the project.” Overall, it appears Tebas and La Liga “once again have a mountain to climb to see their dream of a game played in the U.S. become a reality” (SI, 8/24).
