AFE Statement: Players to boycott Villarreal-Barça match in Miami

Published New:17/10/2025 - 20:16h

Updated New:18/10/2025 - 00:29h

The Spanish Footballers Association (AFE) confirmed that, in all matches of matchday 9 of LaLiga, players will stage a 15-second protest in response to the Villarreal-Barça match in Miami

The tug-of-war between LaLiga EA Sports and the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE) over moving a match to Miami will have a new chapter on matchday 9. On Friday, before the first match of the day between Real Oviedo and Espanyol (21:00 CEST), the union confirmed its first formal protest measure against the match that Villarreal and FC Barcelona will play on December 20 at the Hard Rock Stadium.

According to the AFE statement, all players will stage a 15-second sit-down protest at the start of all 10 First Division matches on the ninth matchday of LaLiga 25/26. This is in protest of an initiative that the players consider to "lack transparency" and affect the competitive balance.

The protest has the support of all the captains of the remaining 18 clubs in LaLiga, with the exception of Barça and Villarreal. This is in order to prevent the measure from being considered as an action directed against one of the clubs.

The statement shared by the AFE against Villarreal-Barça in Miami

The Spanish Footballers Association (AFE), with the support of the captains of the First Division, announces that, during all matches corresponding to the ninth matchday of the Spanish First Division National League, at the beginning of each match, the footballers will protest symbolically as a claim against the lack of transparency, dialogue, and coherence of LALIGA, regarding the possibility of playing a match of the competition in the United States.

The union has decided to keep the FC Barcelona and Villarreal CF players, clubs requesting the project, out of the initiative, even though they share the underlying position and critical points, to prevent the protest action from being interpreted as a possible measure against any club.

Given the persistent refusals and unrealistic proposals from LALIGA, the Association of Spanish Footballers categorically rejects a project that does not have the approval of the main protagonists of our sport and demands that the employers' association create a negotiating table where 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.

Source: afe-futbol.com.

The AFE Rules Out a New Meeting with LaLiga

Likewise, the union rejected LaLiga's proposal to meet next week on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to clarify doubts regarding the match of matchday 17 that will be moved to Miami.

Barça and Villarreal have already given the 'Ok' to the match, at least as far as the boards of directors are concerned. Frenkie de Jong and Hansi Flick, on the Barça side, showed their rejection of playing in the United States, but accept a decision that the parties have already ratified.

In that sense, once LaLiga, with UEFA authorization, has scheduled the date of the match (Saturday, December 20), the AFE believes that there is nothing to discuss with Javier Tebas, since the union previously established its position and will not back down.