Full article

LaLiga match in Miami: thoughts and questions

Today, Monday 4 November, at the meeting of the RFEF's management committee, it will be debated whether to give the go-ahead to the holding of a match of the National First Division Championship, popularly known as LaLiga, in the city of Miami (USA). Specifically, Barça versus Atlético de Madrid.

This information was uncovered by the Cadena Ser journalist, Antón Meana, on the programme El Larguero on 1 November. A few brief lines of analysis and reflection on this announcement, which, as indicated in the aforementioned news item, the idea of the management committee is not to accept LaLiga's proposal, but to accept it as soon as possible.

It is clear that LaLiga has been behind this project for a number of years. It was one of the most intense conflicts between Mr. Tebas and Mr. Rubiales.

As reported by Antón Meana, LaLiga, chaired by Mr. Tebas, must ask the RFEF for permission to hold the match in question. The reader may ask why? The answer is simple, though unknown to many. The owner of the competition is the RFEF, since the beginning of the competition, more than 90 years ago. For this reason, the National Professional Football League (LNFP) known as LaLiga (an association created by the RFEF in 1984) is obliged to request permission to relocate a match of a competition that it manages but does not own, no matter how many million-dollar advertising campaigns it runs, such as the one five years ago, whose campaign claim was ‘90 years beating together’ by the great cardiologist Valentí Fuster. I am not a professor in exact sciences but from 1984 to today, November 2024, 40 years have passed, the other 50, LaLiga has appropriated them when not even La Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional - LaLiga, existed.

It is surprising that the management committee is going to deal with this issue, when it has other pending issues at a standstill and the official response is ‘no decisions can be taken now’ accompanied by ‘when there is a new president, the issue can be deactivated’. It is clear that this announcement has a very important political/federal background. Surely the RFEF will want to make a public commitment to LaLiga, to Mr. Tebas, so that there are no misunderstandings, lest they lose support for the election of the future president. It is clear that the weak situation of the RFEF has been a great opportunity for Mr. Tebas to gain strength and influence in the RFEF with the help of his two main allies in Las Rozas, Mr. Rocha and Mr. Louzán.

Beyond the intentions of one or the other, beyond the interests - which, however much they may want to hide them, that is how they are - this is a matter with many legal aspects that we are going to try to analyse. The National First Division Championship, owned by the RFEF and managed by LaLiga, is a championship with home and away matches. Although nowadays the calendar is asymmetrical, among other things, due to television interests, it is clear to no one that all teams play home games at home with the rest of the teams in the 1st division and away games at the opposing teams' grounds. In other words, there are no ‘neutral’ home games, as all teams have the right and the duty to play at home and away games away from home at the home ground of the team they are playing against.

This criterion can be modified in case of force majeure. First question: Can the principle of equality be broken by playing a match on a ‘neutral’ ground in a league format competition without force majeure? Another question to analyse. The fans. FCB season ticket holders, when they pay the annual fee to watch LaLiga matches, have the right to enjoy 19 LaLiga matches in their stadium. If one of these 19 matches is transferred to another stadium thousands of kilometres away, their rights are being violated. Can FCB change this situation with its members without their prior authorisation? This situation is aggravated by the fact that FCB is not a public limited company and the ownership of the stadium is in the hands of the club's members. Another question: Can LaLiga hold a match outside Spain with the authorisation of the RFEF without the permission of the clubs? Another issue to be studied. Could a team denounce the lack of equality in the competition?