In the past few days, La Liga has ramped up its efforts to move the league game between FC Barcelona and Villarreal, scheduled to be played in December, to the USA.
The league, headed by Javier Tebas, has been constantly trying to get a game to be played in the US and has even received approval from the RFEF to move the aforementioned match to Miami, with a go-ahead from UEFA now awaited.
Barcelona, for their part, have been very much open to the idea, and Villarreal too are on board, but their rivals Real Madrid have decided to oppose the move.
Real Madrid oppose move
In an official statement issued today, Real Madrid expressed their concern about moving the La Liga game between Barcelona and Villarreal from El Madrigal to Miami, stating that it affects the integrity of the competition.
The Spanish capital club argued that this move had been made without prior information or consultation with the clubs participating in the competition.
They further insisted that it breaches the fundamental principle of territorial reciprocity that governs two-legged league formats (one match at home, the other away).
A part of the statement read as follows: “The integrity of the competition requires that all matches be played under the same conditions for all teams. Unilaterally modifying this system breaks the equality between competitors, compromises the legitimacy of the results and sets an unacceptable precedent that opens the door to exceptions based on interests unrelated to strictly sporting matters, with a clear impact on sporting integrity and the risk of adulterating the competition.”
Comunicado Oficial.
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) August 12, 2025
“Any modification of this nature must, in any case, have the express and unanimous agreement of all the clubs participating in the competition, in addition to strictly complying with the national and international rules governing the organisation of official competitions.”
Real Madrid lodge a complaint
As such, Real Madrid have decided to take action against the move, with the statement issued confirming that they had written to FIFA, UEFA, and the Spanish Higher Sports Council (CSD) expressing their concern and asking them to snip this idea in the bud.
“In defence of this principle, Real Madrid has already taken three specific actions:
1. Request to FIFA, as the guarantor of international football rules, not to authorise the match to be played without the prior consent of all the clubs participating in the competition.
2. Request to UEFA, as the guarantor of the integrity of European competitions and regulatory consistency with FIFA, to urge the RFEF to withdraw or deny the request, reaffirming the criteria established in 2018 that prevents official domestic competition matches from being played outside the national territory, except in duly justified exceptional circumstances, which do not apply here.
3. Request to the Higher Sports Council not to grant the necessary administrative authorisation without such unanimous consent.”
The final part of the statement from Real Madrid read:
“Real Madrid reaffirms its commitment to respecting the national and international rules that guarantee the fairness and proper functioning of official competitions, and will defend their compliance before all competent authorities.”
It will be interesting to see how Barcelona, Villarreal, and La Liga respond to these actions from the Spanish capital club.