Villarreal and Barcelona\u2019s La Liga match in Miami has been postponed, with promoters Relevent saying there is \u201cinsufficient time\u201d to organise the event.<\/p>\n
A Relevant statement, first published by The Athletic on Tuesday evening, read: \u201cRelevent has informed La Liga of the need to postpone the planned match between Villarreal CF and FC Barcelona in Miami on December 20.\u201d<\/p>\n
Relevent Sports, the events promoter and media rights company co-founded and owned by billionaire Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M.Ross, have a joint venture with La Liga to grow the league\u2019s business in North America and the game was due to be played at the Dolphins\u2019 Hard Rock stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.<\/p>\n
In August, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) approved the request for December\u2019s La Liga fixture between Villarreal and Barcelona to be played in Miami<\/a>.<\/p>\n The fixture was initially scheduled to take place on the weekend of December 20-21 at Villarreal\u2019s Estadio de la Ceramica home in eastern Spain.<\/p>\n It would be the first time a European top-flight league fixture has taken place in the U.S, although the Spanish Super Cup has been held in Saudi Arabia in the four of the last five seasons.<\/p>\n On October 6, UEFA approved Italian and Spanish domestic league matches being staged overseas<\/a> in a landmark ruling, while reiterating its \u201cclear opposition\u201d to the plans, which it said were granted \u201con an exceptional basis amid regulatory gaps at global level\u201d.<\/p>\n Aleksander Ceferin, the president of European football\u2019s governing body, described the decision as \u201cregrettable\u201d and said that it should \u201cnot be seen as setting a precedent\u201d and that \u201cleague matches should be played on home soil\u201d.<\/p>\n Serie A, the top division of Italian football, is planning to play a match between Milan and Como in Australia, with discussions having taken place over the fixture being staged in the city of Perth on the weekend of February 7-8, 2026.<\/p>\n La Liga\u2019s controversial proposal sparked fury and raised questions about the league\u2019s integrity, with the Spanish football supporters\u2019 association, FASFE, joining with Villarreal and Barca fan groups to express their \u201cabsolute, total and firm opposition\u201d to the plans.<\/p>\n Real Madrid have called on FIFA, global football\u2019s governing body, to prevent the fixtures from taking place in Miami<\/a>, saying it would undermine the \u201cintegrity\u201d of La Liga and prove to be an unwelcome \u201cturning point in the world of football\u201d.<\/p>\n Glenn Micallef \u2014 the EU commissioner for intergenerational fairness, youth, culture and sport \u2014 has said moving the fixture would be \u201cbetrayal\u201d of the Spanish clubs\u2019 local communities<\/a> and also called for discussions with representatives across the game to tackle this and several other controversial topics in football.<\/p>\n The Spanish league first attempted to stage a match abroad in 2018 with a proposal for Girona\u2019s home league game against Barcelona to be played in Miami. However, this was met with opposition from both the RFEF and FIFA, world football\u2019s governing body, as was a similar proposal the following year to play Atletico Madrid\u2019s league match against Villarreal in the U.S..<\/p>\n