U-turn for LaLiga game in Miami as players say “no”
The captains of all Spanish top flight met with AFE (player’s union) and have opposed the Villarreal-Barça match being played in the US.
Spanish footballers have rejected LaLiga’s Miami Plan as the player’s union (AFE) met with all the captains from LaLiga EA Sports on Thursday to discuss Javier Tebas’s initiative to take the Villarreal-Barcelona match to the United States in December. “We want respect and transparency and denounce the initiative given the lack of information”.
In a statement, AFE denounced LaLiga’s refusal to share information about the project with the players: “LaLiga was asked to provide a descriptive report with all the details so we could inform the players and get their opinions.
The full AFE statement
“The Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE) and all the First Division captains met on Thursday afternoon to assess the request that, as announced by the RFEF on August 11, would be submitted to UEFA and FIFA for the dispute, outside national territory, of a League match this season.
AFE requested a detailed report from La Liga in order to inform the players and hear their opinions. In its response, the league denied any responsibility for anticipating the plan and committed only to reporting on the progress of the authorization process.
Given this situation, we consider that, due to the lack of dialogue and information provided to the players, the initiation of a project promoted by La Liga and approved without any information by the RFEF Board of Directors is disrespectful to the players when it involves changes at the sporting level and travel outside the country as workers within the framework of a domestic league.
We are united. We want respect and transparency. With this strong message, AFE demands that the Spanish institutions involved provide all the information on a project that would change the competition and that requires dialogue, negotiation, and prior agreement with all football stakeholders and, fundamentally, with “the main players, which are us.”
The proposed Villarreal-FC Barcelona game was earmarked to take place at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium as part of matchday 17 and was due to take place on December 20/21.
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