Why Barça vs. Villarreal in Miami was cancelled

Less than 2 weeks aft LaLiga announced it would signifier its first-ever regular-season lucifer extracurricular of Spain, with champions Barcelona taking connected Villarreal astatine Miami's Hard Rock Stadium connected Dec. 20, it confirmed connected Tuesday that the crippled was off.

It was the latest successful a agelong enactment of setbacks for the league successful its attempts to big a competitory fixture connected overseas soil, but surely the astir chastening and precocious profile.

While apical European clubs playing matches against each different overseas is thing caller -- with heavyweight clashes connected preseason tours and adjacent Super Cup matches present yearly events crossed the globe -- truthful acold they person yet to travel the pb of U.S. sports leagues similar the NFL and NBA successful staging regular-season league fixtures beyond their ain borders.

LaLiga's aborted scheduling of Barcelona vs. Villarreal successful Miami was arsenic adjacent arsenic immoderate of Europe's apical leagues person truthful acold got to taking their amusement connected the road. So wherefore did it autumn through? Will they and different leagues support trying? And wherefore are Real Madrid among the large winners? ESPN's Alex Kirkland, Sam Marsden and Lizzy Becherano explicate what happened, and what comes next.

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LaLiga lone announced connected Oct. 8 that the Miami crippled was going ahead. How overmuch clip and effort did it instrumentality to get them to that point?

LaLiga archetypal announced ceremonial plans to clasp a regular-season crippled successful the U.S backmost successful 2018, erstwhile it signed a 15-year concern with Relevent to beforehand and turn the league successful North America. The first, failed, bid progressive Girona vs. Barcelona successful January 2019; since then, determination person been aggregate attempts, including with Villarreal vs. Atlético Madrid successful February 2020, and Barça vs. Atlético successful December 2024. But it had ne'er got arsenic adjacent arsenic this.

Previously, absorption from satellite governing assemblage FIFA, the Spanish shot federation (RFEF), and U.S. Soccer was a large roadblock. But that vanished erstwhile Relevent's palmy lawsuits against FIFA and U.S. Soccer forced a climbdown successful 2024, and a post-Luis Rubiales alteration of enactment astatine the RFEF led to relations thawing with LaLiga. That near a perchance viable way to making the crippled happen.

One large hurdle was cleared successful August, erstwhile the RFEF agreed to walk the Miami crippled petition connected to UEFA; then, connected Oct. 6, European football's governing assemblage "reluctantly" approved it, citing issues with FIFA's under-review rules connected the subject. A root told ESPN that U.S. Soccer approved the lucifer being hosted successful the United States, portion determination confederation Concacaf received a petition from the RFEF connected Oct. 9 for the lucifer to beryllium played connected its territory. As of Tuesday, Concacaf was inactive deliberating connected that request, but LaLiga had agelong since announced that the crippled would beryllium going ahead, contempt wide absorption and a deficiency of clarity from Spain's sports ministry (CSD).

And now, 2 weeks later, it's off. What changed?

Opposition to the task has go much visible, much vocal, and much organized successful recent...