\u201cregrettably\u201d approved requests<\/a> from La Liga and Serie A to take games abroad earlier this month.<\/p>\n\u201cThe Spanish Footballers\u2019 Association (AFE), with the support of the First Division captains, announces that during all matches corresponding to the ninth round of the La Liga season, at the start of each match, the players will stage a symbolic protest against La Liga\u2019s lack of transparency, dialogue and consistency regarding the possibility of playing a competition match in the United States,\u201d an AFE statement read.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe union has decided to keep the players of FC Barcelona and Villarreal CF, the clubs requesting the project, out of the initiative, despite sharing the underlying position and critical points, to avoid the protest action being interpreted as a possible measure against any club.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn view of La Liga\u2019s constant refusals and unrealistic proposals, the Spanish Footballers\u2019 Association categorically rejects a project that does not have the approval of the main protagonists of our sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe AFE demands that the employers\u2019 association set up a negotiating table at which all information is shared and the exceptional characteristics of the project are analysed, the needs and concerns of the players are addressed, and the protection of their labour rights and compliance with current regulations are guaranteed.\u201d<\/p>\n
La Liga did not immediately respond to a request for comment but this week released a statement asking the AFE to \u201creturn to useful and constructive dialogue\u201d with the organisation, \u201cwith respect for the facts and the rules\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cLa Liga reiterates its immediate willingness to schedule a meeting on an agreed date, to provide all relevant information within the applicable regulatory framework and to continue working, with rigour and transparency, to strengthen professional football in Spain,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
The main collective of Spanish supporters\u2019 groups FASFE \u2014 the Federation of Shareholders and Members of Spanish Football \u2014 called on supporters to applaud during the proposed 15-second protest.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor this first weekend, and to show the unity of the main groups involved in football, we are calling on all First Division fans to show their rejection of the plan by standing and applauding during the first 15 seconds of the day\u2019s matches, while the players express their rejection on the pitch by remaining motionless during the same period,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this, we aim to demonstrate the rejection of the relocation of our football by everyone involved in the sport, from the pitch to the stands.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the game in Miami goes ahead, it would be the first time a European top-flight league fixture has taken place abroad, although the Supercopa de Espana has been held in Saudi Arabia for four of the past five seasons.<\/p>\n
Italy\u2019s Serie A is hopeful of playing the February match between Milan and Como in Perth, Australia.<\/p>\n
Real Madrid called on FIFA to prevent the fixture from taking place in Miami, while Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong also expressed his opposition to the plans<\/a>. President Joan Laporta responded to say, \u201cThe club will play wherever La Liga tells them to\u201d.<\/p>\nThis weekend of La Liga games kicked off with Real Oviedo hosting Espanyol tonight (Friday) at 8pm UK time (3pm ET). Barcelona host Girona on Saturday while Real Madrid travel to Getafe on Sunday. Villarreal face Real Betis on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The television broadcast of Real Oviedo\u2019s game against Espanyol did not show both sets of players taking part in the protest for the opening seconds of Friday\u2019s match. Sources, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, have told The Athletic that while Barcelona and Villarreal will not take part in the protests, they will respect any protests from the teams they face this weekend (Girona and Real Betis respectively).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Spanish Footballers\u2019 Association (AFE) has said La Liga clubs will halt play for 15 seconds at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[5008,5010,123,125,124,9578],"class_list":["post-9747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-barcelona","tag-la-liga","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-villarreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}