An "unacceptable precedent", undertaken "without information or prior consultation with the clubs" and that "breaks the equality" of the competition. Real Madrid are not mincing their words in their statement against La Liga's proposal to play Barcelona-Villarreal in Miami and are calling on FIFA, UEFA and the CSD to stop the process.

A resounding rejection from Chamartín

The news of the preliminary negotiations to move to Miami the Villarreal-Barca match, scheduled for December 20 or 21,has not gone down well with everyone. Many fans see it as a purely commercial move, depriving the Yellow Submarine's supporters of watching one of the most important matches of the season.

The rejection has been joined by Real Madrid, which in a harsh statement described the idea as an unacceptable precedent that breaks the equality between contenders by depriving Villarreal of the advantage of playing in front of their fans, and thus compromises the legitimacy of the results, opening the door to "exceptions based on interests other than the strictly sporting".

From Chamartín, they denounce that the decision to move the match was taken without prior information or consultation with the clubs. Therefore, Real Madrid decided to ask FIFA and the Spanish Supreme Sports Council not to authorise the transfer of the match demanding UEFA to urge the Spanish Federation to withdraw or deny the request from La Liga.

© Grzegorz Kaliciak | The match would be played at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins.

Madrid, branded hypocritical

Madrid's statement did not go unanswered by those in favour of holding the match in the United States. Some social media users pointed out that the club is concerned that one of the teams cannot play in its stadium, but does not have the same doubts about the NFL match to be held at the Bernabeu in November.

Others pointed out that Villarreal lost the last six home games against Barcelona, while won in three of the last four away games against the Blaugrana team. Maybe we have more chances away from home corroborated Villarreal president Fernado Roig, who sees the match in Miami as a business opportunity to expand the brand and the ceramics sector, which sponsors the club and gives name to Estadio de La Cerámica.

Any fan who wants to go to Miami to watch the match will do so for free, travel and ticket and with no limit to the number of requests, Roig promised yesterday. And for those who can't or don't want to travel, the club will refund 20% of the season ticket price. Everything indicates that the money that Villarreal will make in the event of going to Miami will be a very significant amount, and they want to keep everyone happy to achieve this.