The Spanish Football Association nodded, is the last step away from the "overseas competition" of La Liga?

Written by/Hanbing August 11, 2025, may become a milestone in world football. The "overseas competition" that La Liga has been committed to promoting for many years has finally been approved by the Spanish Football Association. On December 20, the 17th round of La Liga Villarreal and Barcelona will be held at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, USA with a capacity of 75,000 people. The Spanish Football Association has submitted an application and once approved, La Liga will become the first league to hold a formal competition overseas. By then, the "overseas competitions" of other leagues will also be opened.

In November 2018, in the first leg of the South American Liberators Cup final, the South American Football Federation held the second leg of the final in Madrid due to the conflict between fans of the two teams, He Plate and Boca Youth Team, at the Candy Box Stadium. This is the first time that the Champions League final of the six continents is played outside the continent where the participating teams are located. This game further inspired the enthusiasm of La Liga to promote the "overseas game" of La Liga.

As early as 2018, La Liga President Tebas planned to hold the game between Girona and Barcelona in December of that year in Miami, the United States, but was fiercely opposed by Spanish Football Association Chairman Rubiales and the Spanish Players' Union, coupled with FIFA's veto, which failed to make a move. In 2019 and 2024, the La Liga planned to hold "overseas matches" in Miami twice, with Atletico Madrid against Villarreal and Barcelona respectively, and also ended in vain.

In addition to the opposition of the Spanish Football Association, the Player Union and the fan organization, the biggest obstacle to La Liga to promote "overseas competitions" is the FIFA regulations - FIFA does not allow the leagues under its Football Association to compete in regions outside the jurisdiction of the Football Association. However, the Super Cups of various countries are not under the ban, and the Super Cups of Italy, France and Spain have been held overseas. However, given the unstoppable overseas promotion of the five major leagues, last year, FIFA established a working group to study the possibility of lifting the ban on "overseas competitions".

La Liga "Overseas Championship" is only one step away from landing in Miami. Thanks to North American event promotion agency Relevant Sports. The latter has been trying to bring top European events to North America, hosting the successful International Champions League, but they are obviously not satisfied with just holding warm-up matches. In 2019, Relevant Sports planned to host an Ecuadorian league in North America, but was also rejected by FIFA. The agency sued FIFA on the grounds that it obstructed the fairness and autonomy of club football. In May 2024, FIFA reached a legal settlement with Relevant Sports, lifting the "ban" for the league to hold "overseas competitions".

La Liga event promoter in North America is Relevant Sports, and the contract includes the terms of holding "Overseas Tournaments" in North America. La Liga hopes to open up global markets like the North American Football League (NFL). On November 16 this year, the NFL's Miami Dolphins will play the overseas regular season with the Washington Commander team at Real Madrid's Bernabeu Stadium. Barcelona can't wait to play La Liga in Miami, which is also a "counterattack" against its arch rival Real Madrid at the commercial promotion level. It is reported that this overseas game can bring Barcelona to 5 million to 6 million euros. In order to get the support of fans, Villarreal chairman Roig even expressed his willingness to provide free flights to season ticket fans traveling to Miami. Behind Barcelona and Villarreal is the hope of the entire Europe's hope of lifting the "overseas competition". In June this year, the English Championship teams Birmingham City and Wrexham, who also have American backgrounds, hoped to play "overseas games" in the United States, but were rejected by the English Football League (EFL). The Serie A plans to hold an "overseas match" between AC Milan and Como in Perth, Australia in February next year, citing that the opening ceremony of the Milan Winter Olympics occupied the San Siro Stadium and collided. At present, the "overseas competition" plan has not been approved by the Australian Football Federation, Eurasian Football Federation and FIFA. If the "overseas competition" of La Liga is the first to be approved, the Australian "overseas competition" of Serie A will also be banned.

Although the Premier League recently stated that it had no intention of holding an "overseas tournament", as early as 2008, Premier League CEO Scudmor had proposed the "39th round" plan for the entire Premier League "overseas tournament". Once the "overseas tournament" of La Liga is successful, it will open the door to a "new world" in North America for the entire European football.