Real Madrid v Barcelona in Hong Kong? La Liga president adamant official matches will take place abroad
- Legal case against Fifa brought down block on domestic matches taking place in foreign territory
- League boss says first step is for a match in the US, the largest overseas market for La Liga, which is third in the money league
La Liga president Javier Tebas says the league will host matches outside Spain from the 2025-26 season.
Speaking to Spanish newspaper Expansion, Tebas said: “I don’t know when but, this time, yes, La Liga will host official matches abroad. I think it will be in the 2025-26 season.”
In 2018, La Liga signed a 15-year agreement with football promoter Relevant Sport – whose lawsuit against Fifa led to the change in policy – to schedule one match per season in the US, and pencilled in the clash between Barcelona and Girona that campaign for Miami.
However, Spanish football’s governing body, the Royal Spanish Football Federation, refused to give the green light leading to Barcelona officially pulling out in December 2018.
Tebas suggested that initially his focus would be on aiming to finally have a match take place in the US, adding: “An official match in the US would strengthen our position in the North American market, which is number two for La Liga after Spain.
“There are other competitive leagues so we can’t keep doing the same thing or they would overtake us.”
Tebas has been a keen advocate of staging league matches abroad as he looks to narrow the financial chasm that exists between La Liga and the English Premier League, with the Deloitte Money League placing them third behind the German Bundesliga in second.
The Spanish top flight has offices across the world, including in China, and in 2017, 66,000 people packed the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami to watch the first clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid in the US, and first outside Spain since 1982.
Meanwhile, Tebas addressed another point of contention that was brought to the fore during this weekend’s Clasico, where Real Madrid beat Barcelona 3-2.
The Catalans felt they scored a legitimate goal when a shot from Lamine Yamal was saved by Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, but still appeared to cross the line. VAR waved play on and, as there is no goal-line technology in La Liga, no goal was given.
It led to an outcry in Barcelona with calls for the technology to be introduced, but Tebas reiterated his objection, calling it “not perfect”, adding that and issue like this arises “three or four times a season and the price is too high for the amount it would be used”.
