Why is a Spanish soccer match set to be held in the US so controversial?

On August 11, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) officially gave its stamp of approval to a plan proposed by LaLiga to play a regular season match between FC Barcelona and Villarreal – which was originally scheduled to be played at the Estadio de la Cerámica in Villarreal on December 21 – at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

The proposal was then “reluctantly” approved by European governing body UEFA on Monday and now moves to world governing body FIFA for the final authorization steps in what would be a groundbreaking game: the first ever European fixture to be played in the US.

In a similar move, the Italian Football Federation approved a regular season league match between AC Milan and Como to be played in Australia in February 2026, though the fixture is also pending official sign-off from FIFA following Monday’s approval by UEFA.