The Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE) confirmed 18 of the 20 La Liga clubs will stage a protest throughout Gameweek 9 in opposition to Barcelona and Villarreal’s December fixture, set to unfold on U.S. soil.
After the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and UEFA approved the plans for the La Liga clash between Barcelona and Villarreal to take place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, there have been rumblings of a potential stance taken by the players’ union to outwardly oppose the decision.
Now, the talks have become a reality. The AFE released a statement on Friday afternoon announcing that at the start of each match this weekend, footballers across the league will not play the first 15 seconds.
The stoppage is to “to protest symbolically as a demand for the lack of transparency, dialogue and coherence of LALIGA, regarding the possibility of playing a competition match in the United States.”
The AFE confirmed players from Barcelona and Villarreal have been kept out of the plans to “avoid the protest action being interpreted as a possible measure against any club.”
Instead, the protest is geared toward La Liga and the RFEF, who agreed to moving a domestic fixture to a neutral site without the “approval of the main players” in the league.
The statement continues, “[The AFE] demands that the employers’ association create a negotiating table in which all information is shared and the exceptional characteristics of the project are analyzed, the needs and concerns of the footballers are addressed, and the protection of their labor rights and compliance with current regulations are guaranteed.”
