La Liga players launched protests against the league’s decision to hold a regular season game in Miami, but Friday’s first protest was not broadcast live on television as planned.
The worldwide television feed of Real Oviedo’s match against Espanyol was broadcast outside the stadium for the first 25 seconds of the match, when the players took a break for the first 15 seconds to object to plans to play a match in the United States.
The match took place just hours after the Spanish footballers’ union announced protests would take place just after the start of the ninth round matches from Friday to Monday.
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The players’ union said in a statement that “the players will demonstrate in a symbolic way to denounce the lack of transparency, dialogue and consistency of La Liga regarding the possibility of playing a match in the United States.”
LaLiga made official last week its intention to organize the Barcelona-Villarreal match in Miami on December 20.
The union said the captains of the 20 top teams agreed with the protest. But the union added that it had not asked the Barcelona and Villarreal players to take part in the protest even though, according to the union, “they share the basic principle of the protest.”
Espanyol captain Leandro Cabrera, the club’s only captain to have spoken publicly about the disagreement so far, told Cadena SER: “All we ask for is transparency, respect and consistency… They [LaLiga] I want to meet when all tickets are already sold [for the Miami game]. And from now on, there will be no turning back.
“It makes no sense, if everything is transparent and honest, why don’t they sit down and talk?”
Barcelona hosts Girona and Villarreal hosts Real Betis on Saturday.
Earlier Friday, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick and his players were unhappy about having to travel 7,200 kilometers (4,500 miles) to play a regular season match.
“My players are not happy, I am not happy, but La Liga has decided that we will play this match,” Flick told a press conference in response to a question about his stance on the match.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta defended the move, saying it represented an opportunity to further penetrate the American sports market.
But for Flick and his players, it represents an extra trip before a short winter break. Barcelona will also travel to Saudi Arabia for the Spanish Super Cup which begins on January 7.
Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong also criticized playing in the United States, saying players were already overloaded with travel and a busy playing schedule.
Like Barcelona, Villarreal also played in the Champions League.
La Liga president Javier Tebas has defended football abroad as a key to boosting “medium and long-term revenues” and increasing the value of his competition’s television rights, which lag behind those of the English Premier League.
Tebas said the league was considering making an international match an annual event.
The game will take place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
The league has chartered planes to bring what it estimates to be between 2,000 and 3,000 fans of Villarreal, the home team, to Florida.
Reporting from ESPN’s Alex Kirkland contributed to this story.
