BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — For a second straight day, protests by La Liga players against the league’s decision to stage a game in the United States were not broadcast for television audiences.
Neither of the television feeds for Saturday's Sevilla-Mallorca and Barcelona-Girona contests started with a normal wide shot of the field, which would have shown the players remaining still for the first 15 seconds after kickoff in opposition to a regular season game between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami in December.
The TV broadcast at Sevilla focused closely on the center circle for the first seconds, while at Barcelona the feed was from outside the stadium.
Barcelona’s players appeared to join the protest even though they were exempted by the Spanish soccer player’s association which organized it.
“We were not part of the (protest) but we felt that we needed to do what we did for respect for our fellow professionals,” Barcelona midfielder Pedri González said.
The players’ union announced the protest plans on Friday, saying all the captains of the top flight teams supported it for games in the ninth round from Friday through Monday.
For the first protest on Friday night, the TV feed showed the outside of Oviedo's stadium while its players and Espanyol's staged the 15-second pause. The feed went back to normal after 25 seconds when the players had started play.
The union said the symbolic action was to protest the “lack of transparency, dialogue and coherence of La Liga regarding the possibility of playing a game in the United States.”
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick and veteran midfielder Frenkie de Jong have criticized the Miami game, saying it adds unnecessary extra travel to their already packed schedules.
Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso called the Miami game “an adulteration of the competition” when asked about it in a news conference on Saturday.
The former midfielder also backed the protests by players.
“The protests are positive because they represent what many clubs feel,” Alonso said. “We are against unilateral decisions. If there is unanimity and all the participants believe that it is possible, then fine, go ahead, but that is not the case.”
The Dec. 20 match will be at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
La Liga president Javier Tebas has defended the game as a key to boosting “revenues in the mid- to long-term” and increasing the value of his competition’s television rights, which lag behind those of England’s Premier League.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta backs the move by saying it represents an opportunity to further push into the American sports market.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.