Day 2 protests by La Liga players against game in Miami still censored on TV

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — For a second straight day, protests by La Liga players against staging a regular season game in Miami in December were censored or not fully broadcast for television audiences.

The television feed of Barcelona’s home game against Girona switched right before kickoff to an exterior view of the stadium which only showed part of the field from distance. That impeded home audiences from seeing the teams’ players standing still for the first 15 seconds in opposition to La Liga’s plan to hold the Barcelona-Villarreal game across the Atlantic on Dec. 20.

The broadcasts of the initial moments after kickoff of the day’s other three games — Sevilla-Mallorca, Villarreal-Real Betis and Atletico Madrid-Osasuna — focused closely from directly above on the center circle, instead of taking a wide angle of the field.

Barcelona’s and Villarreal’s players joined the protests 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 follow along out of respect for our fellow professionals,” Barcelona midfielder Pedri González said after his team’s 2-1 win.

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.

The play-by-play commentator on Saturday did briefly mentioned the protest, in contrast to Friday when it was completely censored from the broadcast of Oviedo-Espanyol. For that first protest, TV audiences saw only the exterior of the stadium for the first 25 seconds after kickoff.

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.”

Spain’s soccer supporters association, FASFE, applauded the players’ protest against what it called “La Liga’s obsession with going forward with its demented plan to rob our communities of soccer.”

The league argues the game will be good for promoting Spanish soccer globally.

Coaches also against Miami match

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.”

La Liga: Miami game will boost revenues

Barcelona president Joan Laporta backs the move by saying it represents an opportunity to further push into the American sports market.

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.

The Dec. 20 match will be at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.

Tebas said the league plans to make an international match an annual event.

La Liga has tried and failed in recent years to get a game abroad. If it succeeds this time, it will be the first major European league to do so, even though federation-organized events like the Spanish Super Cup and the Italian Super Cup are now held in Saudi Arabia.

Italy’s Serie A is also planning to move a Feb. 8 match between Milan and Como to Perth, Australia, saying the San Siro won’t be available after hosting the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics two days earlier.

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