Many Conflicts, UEFA Postpones Villarreal Vs Barcelona Match Plan In Miami

JAKARTA - The UEFA Executive Committee has postponed the decision-making of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) request to allow the La Liga match between Villarreal vs Barcelona to be held at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, United States.

The UEFA stated after a meeting of the Executive Committee on Thursday, September 11, 2025, local time, in Tirana, Albania, that they would hold consultations with all parties, including supporters, before making any decisions.

More than 400 groups of club supporters in Europe have opposed the proposed holding of foreign league matches. The group connecting supporters, Football Supporters Europe (FSE), has officially urged UEFA and FIFA to block the request.

The UEFA confirmed that the Executive Committee also approved a similar delay in the Serie A request to hold the Inter Milan vs Como match in Perth, Australia, in February 2026.

This year's RFEF approved Barcelona's plans to play Villarreal in Miami on December 20, 2025, but the final decision is now in UEFA and FIFA hands.

UEFA admits that this is an important and increasingly relevant issue. Therefore, they want to gather the opinions of all interested parties before making a final decision.

"The UEFA Executive Committee discussed requests from the RFEF and FIGC (Italy Football Federation) to approve the holding of one domestic league match each outside the country of origin, particularly outside the UEFA region," UEFA said in a statement.

The committee recognizes this as an important and growing issue, but expresses a desire to ensure that they have listened to the views of all stakeholders before making a final decision.

"There are many problems that must be resolved and as the governing body of European football. UEFA has a responsibility to consider all these factors."

"As a result, no decision was taken today, but UEFA will conduct consultations with all stakeholders in European football - including supporters."

"We welcome UEFA's commitment to meaningful consultations," the FSE said in a statement, praising its dedication to maintaining European football's integrity.

Critics of the plan, including top European Commission sports official in Brussels, Glenn Micallef, said the integrity of league sports would also be unbalanced and damaged.

There are no similar proposals from leagues in England and Germany, which are likely to face a backlash from supporters over leagues in Spain or Italy.

La Liga and Serie A have been financially pressed by the global popularity of the Premier League and see opportunities to build a support and brand base for clubs and leagues, following the example of the United States professional sports league.

Richard Masters, CEO of the Premier League, said the Premier League had no plans to host matches abroad.

"We have no plans to play games overseas. That's not my plan at all and it's not a debate at our table," the Masters said.

Meanwhile, La Liga and its commercial partner, Relevent, a US marketing agency co-founded by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, first tried the plan in 2018 to air Barcelona's games in the city, but were blocked by the FIFA veto.

A new plan for so-called out-of-regional matches was inevitable last year when FIFA withdrew from a court case in New York filed by Relevent.

Relevent is now UEFA's main commercial partner with the rights this year to sell broadcast rights for six seasons and sponsorship deals from 2027 for the Champions League as well as other European club competitions.

FIFA has formed a working group to review its rules on domestic matches abroad. The FIFA regulatory board, which consists of 37 people, with eight members from UEFA, will meet next month.

UEFA leaders previously said they did not support organizing overseas matches, but did not appear to have the legal force to block them.

"European football belongs to our stadium, city and community. There are too many domestic matches abroad," the FSE group said.

The opposition also came from the Spanish Sports Minister, Pilar Alegria, who rejected league matches played abroad.

"As the Spanish government, what I do is attract international competition to my country."

"So, you can imagine a national competition where you want to be played, logically in my country. We have magnificent cities, great stadiums, and great fans. Therefore, I certainly support the national competition played in Spain," Alegria told Cadena Ser radio.

Alegria further said that the Spanish Government was taking steps so that the 2030 World Cup final could be held in Spain.

"We continue to hold liquid talks, as it is natural, with Portugal and Morocco. Our first task is to ensure that the final will be played in Spain."

"However, it is true that this decision is not final. I think both (Santiago Bernabeu and Camp Nou) will be great and extraordinary choices," he said.