UEFA puts brakes on plans for Barça Miami game

The UEFA Executive Committee connected Thursday delayed making a determination connected the petition from the Spanish Football Federation's (RFEF) to wide a Villarreal-Barcelona LaLiga lucifer for Miami's Hard Rock Stadium.

UEFA said aft Thursday's Executive Committee meetings successful Tirana, Albania, that it would clasp a circular of consultations with each parties, including fans, earlier making immoderate decisions.

More than 400 nine protagonist groups successful Europe person travel retired against the projected staging of matches overseas and instrumentality liaison radical Football Supporters Europe formally urged UEFA and FIFA to artifact the request.

UEFA confirmed that its Executive Committee besides agreed likewise to hold a determination astir Serie A's requests this Thursday successful Tirana to person the Inter Milan-Como lucifer played successful Perth, Australia, successful February.

The RFEF this twelvemonth approved plans for Barcelona to play Villarreal successful Miami connected Dec. 20 but the determination present rests with football's governing bodies to marque a last decision.

UEFA acknowledged that "this is an important and progressively applicable issue," and truthful wishes to stitchery the opinions of each funny parties earlier making a last decision.

In a statement, UEFA said: "The Executive Committee discussed the requests from the RFEF and FIGC (Italian FA) to o.k. the playing of 1 home league lucifer each extracurricular the location country, successful peculiar extracurricular the UEFA territory.

"The committee acknowledged it arsenic an important and increasing contented but expressed the tendency to guarantee that it has the views of each stakeholders earlier coming to a last decision.

"There are galore issues to resoluteness and arsenic the European governing body, UEFA has a work to instrumentality each specified factors into account.

"As a result, nary determination was taken contiguous but UEFA volition undertake a circular of consultation with each stakeholders successful European shot -- including fans."

"We invited UEFA's committedness to meaningful consultation," the FSE said successful a statement, praising the "dedication to preserving the integrity of European football."

Critics of the plans, including the European Commission's apical sports authoritative successful Brussels, Glenn Micallef, accidental the sporting integrity of leagues besides would beryllium unbalanced and damaged.

There are nary akin proposals from the leagues successful England and Germany which would apt look a stronger backlash by fans than successful Spain oregon Italy.

La Liga and Serie A person been financially outmuscled by the Premier League's planetary popularity and spot a accidental to physique the instrumentality basal and marque for clubs and leagues, pursuing the illustration of U.S. nonrecreational sports leagues.

Richard Masters, the Premier League CEO, said past period that determination are nary plans for the English league to signifier games overseas.

"We don't person immoderate plans to play matches abroad," Masters said. "It's not anyplace adjacent my in-tray and it's not a statement astir our table."

La Liga and its commercialized spouse Relevent, a U.S. selling bureau co-founded by Miami Dolphins proprietor Stephen Ross, archetypal tried successful 2018 to enactment a Barcelona crippled successful the metropolis but were blocked by a FIFA veto.

Fresh plans for alleged "out of territory" games were inevitable past twelvemonth erstwhile FIFA withdrew from a tribunal lawsuit successful New York filed by Relevent.

Relevent is present a large commercialized spouse for UEFA with rights awarded this twelvemonth to merchantability six seasons' worthy of broadcast and sponsor deals from 2027 for the Champions League and different European nine competitions.

FIFA has created a moving radical to reappraisal its rules connected home games abroad, and its 37-member ruling assembly with 8 from UEFA is owed to conscionable adjacent month.

UEFA leaders person previously...