Official: Real Madrid oppose La Liga decision to move Villarreal vs Barcelona to USA | OneFootball

Earlier this week, major steps were taken by La Liga and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to host the game between FC Barcelona and Villarreal in the USA.

With the RFEF issuing its approval and furthering the request from the league to UEFA for their green light, the decision has sparked mixed reactions within the footballing community.

Real Madrid oppose move

Now, making their stance official, Real Madrid have issued a statement opposing the decision to play the game between Villarreal and Barcelona in the USA, stating that it affects the ‘integrity of the competition’ based on home and away format.

“Real Madrid CF wishes to express to its members, supporters and football fans in general its firm rejection of the proposal to play the match corresponding to matchday 17 of the First Division National League Championship between Villarreal CF and FC Barcelona outside Spain,” the statement started.

“The measure, which was put forward without informing or consulting the clubs participating in the competition, violates the essential principle of territorial reciprocity that governs league competitions with a double round-robin format (one match at home and the other at the opposing team’s ground), altering the competitive balance and giving an unfair sporting advantage to the clubs requesting it.”

Real Madrid went on to further claim that the integrity of the competition requires that all matches be played under the same conditions for all teams.

Unilaterally modifying this framework breaks equality between competitors, undermines the legitimacy of results, and sets an unacceptable precedent that opens the door to exceptions driven by interests outside of sport itself – with a clear impact on sporting integrity and a risk of distorting the competition.

Three-point action taken

Continuing, Real Madrid claimed in their statement that had already taken three actions to stop this venture from moving forward.

Concluding, the statement read: “Real Madrid reaffirms its commitment to respecting national and international rules that guarantee fairness and the proper functioning of official competitions, and will defend compliance with these rules before all competent authorities.”