La Liga threatens to take Fifa to court over plans for Barcelona vs Girona to be played in Miami
Fifa joined the Spanish FA on Friday in publicly opposing the move, with president Gianni Infantino telling the Fifa council that league matches should be played in their home country
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La Liga has threatened to take Fifa to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) should world football’s governing officially oppose its plans for a Spanish league match to be played in Miami.
In August La Liga announced a controversial 15-year deal with US company Relevent Sports which included a stipulation to play one match per season in America, and scheduled a game between Girona and Barcelona in Florida at the end of January.
Fifa joined the Spanish FA on Friday in publicly opposing the move, with president Gianni Infantino telling the Fifa council that league matches should be played in their home country.
“The Fifa council of course discussed this matter and this proposal to host an official game of La Liga outside of Spain, in Miami in particular,” Infantino said after the meeting in Rwanda.
“The council emphasised the sporting principle that official match leagues must be played within the territory of the respective member association. So the council has clear views on that.”
La Liga president Javier Tebas last month said he was 90 per cent sure the game would take place in the US and the league has now threatened to turn to Cas, should Fifa attempt to officially block the proposal.
A La Liga spokesman said: “Should we receive official notification from Fifa that they prohibit the match, we will take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport urgently.”
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