Plans to stage Villarreal’s December La Liga fixture against Barcelona in Miami have sparked fierce backlash from Spanish football supporters, who are threatening legal action to stop the move.
The Spanish football federation (RFEF) confirmed it had approved the clubs’ joint request to switch the match from Villarreal’s Estadio de la Cerámica on 21 December to the Hard Rock Stadium in Florida a day earlier. The venue is already set to host seven games at the 2026 World Cup.
While the RFEF will now seek the necessary approvals from Uefa and Fifa, the federation’s decision has drawn immediate condemnation from the Spanish Football Supporters’ Federation (FASFE) and fan groups from both clubs.
In a joint statement, they branded the plan “absolute, total and firm madness” and urged both the RFEF and Spain’s national sports council to block it. “We will take appropriate legal action if this goes ahead,” the groups warned.
Though international “export” fixtures have been staged before — such as the Italian and Spanish Super Cups — moving a regular domestic league match abroad would be unprecedented in Europe.
Fifa’s current rules forbid league games from being played outside their home country, but the governing body has formed a working group to review the issue. Similar proposals in Spain have failed in the past, including attempts to take Barcelona’s league games against Atletico Madrid (2024) and Girona (2019) to Miami.
Elsewhere, AC Milan is pushing to hold a Serie A match in Perth, Australia, next February due to a scheduling clash with the Winter Olympics opening ceremony at San Siro, but that plan is also awaiting approval from multiple football bodies.
