Article body analysed
By BEN WILLCOCKS, ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Published: 02: 03 AEST, 12 August 2025 | Updated: 02: 03 AEST, 12 August 2025 13 View comments A request to stage December's La Liga fixture between Villarreal and Barcelona in the United States has been approved by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), according to reports. The RFEF's board of directors, who received and discussed the proposal during a meeting on Monday, have given a green light to the request which will now be submitted to UEFA and FIFA for further approval. In what would mark the first ever European top-flight league fixture to take place abroad, it has been requested that Villarreal's home clash with Barcelona in December be played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. La Liga president Javier Tebas has regularly and publicly supported the idea of Spanish top-flight fixtures being played in the United States and spoke optimistically about the chances of a 2025-26 fixture being staged abroad last year. According to The Athletic, the La Liga match may have to be moved in order to fit in with the NFL calendar, as the Miami Dolphins are scheduled to face off against the Cincinnati Bengals at the venue on December 21, in the weekend during which Barcelona and Villarreal are supposed to play. As there are no Champions League fixtures scheduled in the midweek between December 15 and December 21, the match could in theory be rearranged for then, given both sides are competing in Europe's elite competition this season. A request to stage December's La Liga fixture between Villarreal and Barcelona in the United States was approved by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in a meeting on Monday The proposal is for Villarreal against Barcelona to be played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami However, the Spanish Cup's round-of-32 stage is scheduled between December 16 and December 18, which complicates matters. La Liga also attempted to stage a Barcelona match abroad back in 2018, this time with Girona the opponents included in the proposal, as well as a league game between Atletico Madrid and Villarreal the following year. The requests, however, were both met with opposition from both the RFEF and FIFA. It is understood the relationship between RFEF and La Liga has improved since those initial proposals, and now the Spanish top flight has taken a significant step towards staging a fixture abroad. While FIFA has so far shown opposition towards the idea, the possibility of staging domestic league fixtures abroad has been given a significant boost. US events promoter Relevent, which was founded by Miami Dolphins founder Stephen Ross, has dropped world football's governing body from their landmark lawsuit. The case, issued in 2018, accused FIFA and the US Soccer Federation of stopping official league matches from being staged in foreign countries, preventing fair competition. La Liga chief Javier Tebas has publicly supported the idea of playing league matches abroad However, as of April 2024, FIFA and Relevent have now settled the case. Barcelona begin their La Liga campaign with an away trip to Mallorca on Saturday, while Villarreal play Oviedo at home on Friday.
Share what you think
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mail Online.
By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual. Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on Mail Online. To do this we will link your Mail Online account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy. Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd