La Liga wants Barcelona v Atletico in Miami

Wednesday, 23 October 2024 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Barcelona’s league fixture against Atletico Madrid in December could be staged in Miami – with La Liga officials hopeful that Fifa will approve the plan.

It would be the first time a La Liga match has been played in the United States.

Fifa, football’s world governing body, will make the final decision on the proposal.

The match is currently scheduled for 22 December, before La Liga pauses for its winter break.

Both Atletico and Barcelona are scheduled to play in a four-team Spanish Super Cup in early January, which is being held in Saudi Arabia.

In April, Fifa withdrew from a legal challenge by leading match promoter Relevent, which is seeking to stage overseas league matches in the United States.

The following month, Fifa announced it was setting up a working group to look at the potential impact of competitive domestic matches being played abroad.

La Liga president Javier Tebas has spoken of his desire to take La Liga games to other countries.

Barcelona planned to stage a league match against Girona in Miami in January 2019, but the idea was scrapped in the face of opposition from Spain’s football association and its players’ union.

League sources say there is still work to do on the plan but they are hopeful of receiving approval to proceed.

The Premier League has previously said it has no plans to play games overseas.