When LaLiga first broached the idea of playing league matches in the United States in 2018, there were multiple hurdles.
One big one was the support of the Spanish federation, the Real Federación Española de Fútbol.
Monday’s approval by RFEF of the request for the Villarreal-Barcelona match — scheduled for the weekend of Dec. 20 — to be played at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, rather than Villarreal’s Estadio de La Cerámica, moves playing major foreign league matches on U.S. soil closer to reality.
In April, Miami-based Relevent Sports, LaLiga’s commercial partner, settled (with prejudice) a lawsuit with U.S. Soccer, clearing another major hurdle in the bid to have foreign league matches hosted on American soil. That followed an agreement between Relevent Sports and FIFA, .
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