Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga in Spain, has lamented the "missed opportunity" of taking a regular league match to Miami, something he considers would have helped Spanish football "advance, project itself globally, and strengthen its future", and talked about a "narrow-minded and provincial perspective" that prevented it from happening.
LaLiga had officially announced that a match between Villarreal and FC Barcelona would take place in Miami, but the decision was made between the two clubs and LaLiga without consulting the rest of clubs, the players that would be affected, and even CONCACAF, the football association in North America. Due to "uncertainty arisen in Spain", the promoter backed off.
The "Miami plan" was met with widespread rejection from fans (specially from Villarreal, who would miss the chance of seeing their team play against Barça at their local stadium), football players from the other clubs, and even players from inside the club, with many accusing the move of vitiating the competition.
<social>https://x.com/Tebasjavier/status/1980857386815361520</social>
In his rant on X, Tebas say that the true threat for European football are "the governing institutions, which year after year destroy national leagues, the true driving force of the European football industry, amid the naiveté and passivity of European leaders who fail to distinguish the inconsequential from the essential".
As expected, Tebas also made an indirect hit to his biggest detractor, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez: "The "integrity of the competition" is invoked by those who have been questioning that same integrity for years, pressuring referees and government officials, constructing distorted narratives, or using political and media pressure as a sporting tool."
Finally, he promises that Spanish football "will continue to look into the future with ambition, no fear" and he will keep trying.