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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Ben Hayward

No La Liga game in Miami as Spanish court rejects moving Villarreal-Atletico to USA

A Spanish court has rejected LaLiga's plan to stage next month's Villarreal vs Atletico Madrid fixture in Miami.

LaLiga unveiled proposals in the summer of 2018 to take one match per season to North America, with Barcelona and Girona initially agreeing to travel to Miami for the first of those in January of this year.

But Barcelona pulled out of the agreement in December and the plan to take Villarreal's home game against Atletico to Florida next month has also failed.

"Madrid’s Mercantile Court no. 12 today decided not to grant interim measures to stage an official LaLiga match in Miami in a case about the pending authorisation from the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF)," LaLiga said in a statement.

"LaLiga respects this decision," it added, going on to say that there will be a permanent resolution of the matter in February 2020."

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has been opposed to taking a league match to North America from the outset, despite organising the Supercopa in Saudi Arabia next January.

In a long statement of their own, the RFEF say LaLiga president Javier Tebas should "resign immediately" for "hostile and irresponsible" behaviour which has cost the Federation money.

But LaLiga said: "Staging an official LaLiga match abroad is part of a long-term LaLiga strategy for international growth. We hope that from February forth LaLiga will be able to organise an official match beyond Spanish borders."

Villarreal versus Atletico will now take place at the Estadio de la Ceramica in the opening game of the 16th round of the competition, on Friday, December 16 at 21:00 GMT.

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