On Tuesday, Real Madrid announced that it will take all measures to prevent Villarreal and Barcelona from playing a match valid for matchday 17 of La Liga on December 20 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. This would be the first game in history to be played outside of Spain.
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The Real Madrid team believes that if the Barcelona team plays in Florida and not as visitors at the La Cerámica Stadium in Villarreal, they would have a sports advantage over the rest of the league participants.
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What are Real Madrid’s arguments in the claim?
In a statement, Real Madrid said that “this measure, adopted without prior information or consultation with the participating clubs, violates the essential principle of territorial reciprocity, applicable in double-match league competitions (one match at home and another at the opponent’s field), altering the competitive balance and granting an undue sporting advantage to the requesting clubs," declared Madrid.
In addition, the Madrid club stated that the match would set “an unacceptable precedent that opens the door to exceptions based on non-sporting interests, clearly affecting sports integrity and risking the adulteration of the competition.”
“If this proposal were to be carried out, its consequences would be so serious that they would mark a turning point in the world of football,” declared Madrid.
The club presided over by Florentino Pérez announced that it requested FIFA, UEFA, and the highest Spanish sports organization not to authorize the match in the United States. The Spanish Football Federation approved on Monday the request for the match to take place in Miami, although UEFA and FIFA have not yet given their response.
Villarreal’s compensations
The president of Villarreal, Fernando Roig, acknowledged that there will be “discomfort” among some fans for taking this home game against Barcelona to the United States, but he announced two “fundamental” measures for the club’s season ticket holders: “Those who want to go to Miami will go to Miami for free, and those who cannot go, do not want to go, or are not interested in going to Miami will receive a significant 20% discount on their season ticket. The season ticket holders will be compensated,” he revealed.
The president of La Liga, Javier Tebas, has been trying for several years to bring an official match to the United States, and this season it finally seems on track to achieve his goal.
Tebas and Florentino Pérez, the president of Madrid, have become great enemies recently. For example, during the FIFA Club World Cup, Pérez supported the tournament invented by Gianni Infantino, while Tebas said he will do everything possible to prevent it from being played again.
In addition, as a result of the Club World Cup, Real Madrid requested to postpone their Spanish league debut scheduled for August 19, as they have only had two weeks of preseason, but Tebas told them no.