La Liga president laments promoters’ decision to cancel
Tebas criticises Real Madrid and players’ union
Javier Tebas has vowed that La Liga would try again after plans to take a game abroad fell through when promoters announced they were cancelling Villarreal’s meeting with Barcelona in Miami on 20 December.
The league had been informed of the decision on Tuesday, with an announcement made at half-time of Villarreal’s Champions League game against Manchester City at the Estadio de la Cerámica, where they will face Barcelona, instead of at the Hard Rock Stadium. The timing of the announcement was described as “a complete lack of respect” by the Villarreal coach, Marcelino García Toral.
The decision came with the pre-sale process open but 24 hours before tickets were put on sale, and after a protest from the Spanish footballers’ union (AFE) at the weekend in which the first 15 seconds of every top-flight game were not played. Relevent Sports announced there was not time to organise the game properly. The league was waiting for a judgment from Spain’s sports council and football authorities in North America. Uefa had reluctantly given the go-ahead, saying it did not have the authority to prevent the game taking place.
