The Reason For The Rejection Of The La Liga Party In Miami Continues To Flow: Only Barcelona Benefits?

JAKARTA - The Spanish Footballers Association (AFE) remains against the La Liga match between Villarreal vs Barcelona which will be played in Miami, United States, in December 2025.

AFE president David Aganzo said players could not support the proposal given the lack of information provided by the league so far.

He added that he could not guarantee the match would continue at Hard Rock Stadium.

Aganzo hopes to hold a meeting with La Liga president Javier Tebas, the captain of 20 clubs in Spain's highest-level league, and both teams involved, Barcelona and Villarreal, last week.

However, the meeting proved impossible to attend everyone at the same time.

"Last Tuesday (should) be a meeting with Tebas and clubs. We want transparency and respect for the players."

"More than just bringing matches to other countries, we want to know if a joint work agreement has been fulfilled, details about travel, working conditions."

"We want information from La Liga. If this is special as La Liga said, why isn't any other club celebrating besides Barcelona and Villarreal? I haven't seen any celebrating statements yet."

"I can't guarantee this will happen. It was the players who played these matches."

"Football is indeed improving, but conditions must also improve. We have to protect the players," said Aganzo.

La Liga had responded to Aganzo by releasing a statement saying that they could not attend the meeting on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, but had proposed three other dates.

AFE stressed the urgency of the meeting immediately, saying that all the dates offered by La Liga were late, at a time when tickets for matches in Miami had already been sold.

It is not clear what steps the next AFE can take. In theory, they don't have to support the match to continue.

However, Aganzo said he had spoken to political parties about his next actions although he added that the union did not want to destroy everything.

Aganzo also expressed one of his concerns that moving league games to the United States would distort competitions, given Barcelona could play away games in neutral places.

"Of course. The players think so too. Villarreal has better chances at home. Outside of Spain, top clubs have more fans."

"It feels like Barcelona is at home," said Aganzo again.

Meanwhile, Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong also said he understood why other clubs were unhappy with the benefits his team could get.

Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos said in the middle of last week that it would tarnish the competition.

Real Madrid has become one of the biggest critics of football, saying it will provide the unsuitable sporting advantages to the teams involved and create unacceptable precedents.

La Liga has been trying to move the game to the United States since 2017, but the plan accelerated this month when UEFA said it had approved two requests for matches to be played overseas.

Another party in question is the Serie A duel between AC Milan vs Como. The match is planned to take place in Perth, Australia, in February 2026.

UEFA said it clearly opposed the idea of playing domestic league matches outside their home countries.

However, they strongly agreed after citing the cryptic FIFA framework and regulations. Finally they confirmed that they had received the proposal very well.