Barcelona players began Saturday’s home match against Girona with a 15-second delayed start in protest against LaLiga’s decision to hold their regular-season match against Villarreal in Miami.
Barça were due to play away at Villarreal on Dec. 20, but the league has relocated the fixture to the Hard Rock Stadium on the same date, with tickets due to go on sale next week.
The Spanish Footballers’ Association [AFE] announced Friday that a protest would be carried out by players this weekend aimed at the league’s “lack of transparency, dialogue and coherence” in staging the Miami game.
The AFE didn’t say what the protest would be, but on Friday, in the first LaLiga game of the weekend — Real Oviedo vs. Espanyol — the two teams paused for the first 15 seconds.
The AFE said Barça and Villarreal players would not be forced to join in the protest, given it could put them in an uncomfortable position with their clubs, but confirmed that they were in support of the action.
However, as Girona kicked off and then paused for 15 seconds at the Olympic Stadium, Barça’s players did the same, remaining still until the away team started to play.
Villarreal host Real Betis later on Saturday.
LaLiga has been trying to take a game to the United States since 2017, but now looks to be in a position to finally pull it off after receiving approval from the Spanish Football Federation [RFEF], which already stages the Spanish Supercopa in Saudi Arabia, and UEFA.
While Barça and Villarreal as clubs have agreed to participate, other teams in LaLiga are against the plans.
Real Madrid have been the fiercest critics, saying it will “give an undue sporting advantage” to the teams involved and “sets an unacceptable precedent.”
Even Barça midfielder Frenkie de Jong has said he does not support the plans, acknowledging Madrid’s concerns that it helps Barça as they get to play an away game on neutral territory.
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Barça coach Hansi Flick has also said that he is “not happy” about it but that he would respect the decision made by the league and the clubs involved.
Following the on-pitch protests this weekend, it is unclear what steps the AFE could take next.
In theory, the union does not have to support the game for it to go ahead, but AFE president David Aganzo has said he has spoken with political parties about subsequent actions.
