The proposed plan by LaLiga to stage Villarreal vs FC Barcelona in Miami next December is on hold after the UEFA Executive Committee assessed the plan put forward by the RFEF (Spanish FA) and LaLiga.
“The Executive Committee discussed requests from the RFEF and FIGC (the Italian FA who are looking to stage Como-Milan in Perth, Australia, in 2026 ) to approve the playing of a domestic league match outside the home country, in particular outside UEFA territory. The committee acknowledged that this is an important and growing issue but wished to ensure that the views of all interested parties were considered before making a final decision,” the UEFA official statement said.
“There are many issues to be resolved, and as the European governing body, UEFA has a responsibility to take all of these factors into account. As a result, no decision has been made today, but UEFA will conduct a round of consultations with all stakeholders in European football, including fans,” the statement continued.
In addition to UEFA, the plan must receive the final green light from FIFA for it to go ahead.
The UEFA meeting did decree that the 2027 Champions League final will be staged at Atletico Madrid’s Estadio Metropolitano.
The ‘Miami plan’ was the subject of debate among members of the Executive Committee. There have been widespread disagreements in recent weeks, and some criticisms have even been made public, for example that of UEFA president himself, Aleksander Ceferin.
However, the new legal framework makes it very difficult to overturn the project. Since 2024, FIFA has approved the possibility of playing national league matches in other countries.
In recent weeks, there have several high profile dissenting voices with the most notable being that of Real Madrid, which made public its rejection, believing that it would undermine the competition. Spain’s Pilar Alegría, Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sport and many top flight Spanish club captains, via the AFE player union. Football Supporters Europe and the Spanish fan network FASFE have also expressed their opposition to the initiative going ahead.
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