Javier Tebas: LaLiga has ‘lost opportunity to advance’ by cancelling Miami game

LaLiga president Javier Tebas has described the decision to cancel the overseas match between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami as a lost opportunity.

The plan for the league match in December had come in for heavy criticism, with claims it would affect the competition’s integrity.

Players protested against the initiative in the current round of LaLiga matches by refusing to move for the first few seconds of each game, and on Tuesday the league announced it had been called off “due to the uncertainty that has arisen in Spain over the past few weeks”.

Tebas, though, believes it is a step backwards, and hit out strongly at critics of the plan.

He wrote on X: “Today, Spanish football has lost an opportunity to advance, project itself globally, and strengthen its future.

“The defence of ‘tradition’ is invoked from a narrow-minded and provincial perspective, while the true traditions of European football are threatened by decisions by the governing institutions, which year after year destroy national leagues, the true driving force of the European football industry, amid the naivety and passivity of European leaders who fail to distinguish the inconsequential from the essential.

“The ‘integrity of the competition’ is invoked by those who have been questioning that same integrity for years, pressuring referees and leaders, constructing distorted narratives, or using political and media pressure as a sporting tool.

“I want to thank Villarreal CF and FC Barcelona for their commitment and generosity in being part of a project that only sought the growth of our competition. They weren’t thinking about themselves, they were thinking about everyone.

“LaLiga will continue working, with rigour and conviction, to keep Spanish football competitive, standing up to those who seek to destroy it, but always respecting its roots and ensuring its sustainability.

“Spanish football deserves to look to the future with ambition, not fear. We will keep trying. This time, we came very close.”

Villarreal would have been the designated home team, but it was much more likely to have felt like an extra home game for Barca given their global fanbase.