Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois criticizes Spanish league president over Barcelona game in Miami

MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois criticized Spanish league president Javier Tebas on Tuesday over the decision to play a regular-season game in Miami in December.

Courtois also complained about the league’s decision to censor protests against the upcoming Villarreal-Barcelona game that he says alters the fairness of the competition.

“Teams should play home and away,” he said. “It’s not the same to play against a team at home and away. It’s hard to play on the road in the Spanish league. Playing on the road at Villarreal’s field is very tough. Every team has to play at home and away unless there is a major reason for that not to happen.”

Villarreal is nominally the home team for the Dec. 20 match that will be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

The league finally succeeded in arranging a regular-season game to be played abroad after its previous attempts were brought down by protests from fan groups, the Spanish soccer federation and the country’s players’ association.

Players have made their feelings known by standing still for the first seconds of league matches last weekend, but these protests against the Miami game were censored or not fully broadcast for television audiences. The television feed of games switched before kickoff to an exterior view of the stadiums and only showed part of the fields from distance.

“It shouldn’t surprise you,” Courtois said about Tebas and the censorship. “He has been doing these types of things for a long time, contesting people publicly on social media. I’ve already said it before, I’ve never seen a league president of any sport talk like that. To hide the protests and change the reason we are protesting is censorship and manipulation, and that’s serious.”

Courtois countered the argument made by some that the Spanish league is only doing what top American sports have already being doing for some time to help grow the brand and bring additional financial gains.

“It’s easy to talk about the NBA and the NFL,” Courtois said. “The NBA has 82 games and then the playoffs where nothing changes. And in the NFL everybody voted on it. Here it was the opposite.”

Players have complained that the negotiations for the Miami game lacked transparency and that clubs and players were not allowed to weigh in.

Courtois spoke in a news conference ahead of Madrid’s Champions League game against Juventus on Wednesday.

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