Villarreal president backs hosting Barcelona clash in Miami – ‘It is not bad for anyone’ | OneFootball

La Liga president Javier Tebas has desperately pushed for a few league games in the season to be taken overseas for a few years now, but a combination of reasons has seen that objective unfulfilled time and time again.

Before the new season began, word again spread that Tebas was looking to achieve the objective this time around, and it soon became clear that Barcelona’s clash against Villarreal was the chosen fixture with Miami as the proposed destination.

Since that point, the situation took a drastic turn, polarising Spanish teams with many vocally opting against its deployment and a few speaking in its favour.

The likes of Real Madrid, unsurprisingly, were against it, citing unfair advantages and an uneven playing field, and the matter even reached the UEFA offices.

Villarreal president speaks

Speaking to the media in a recent interview, Villarreal president Fernando Roig was asked to reveal his stance on the Barcelona vs Villarreal game being proposed to take place in the USA and thus kicking off a new trend of taking league games overseas.

The Villarreal chief had no objection to the proposal and, in fact, saw the silver lining to be far superior to the cost involved for his team.

Villarreal vs Barcelona very likely to be played in the US. (Photo by Judit Cartiel/Getty Images)

“We believe that it is not bad for anyone, only for our fans, who may be harmed, but we alleviate that damage to our subscribers,” he began.

He then elaborated on how the funds the club would receive from the operation would only be used to compensate fans who stand to miss out on witnessing the match in Spain.

“We don’t receive money for this. The money that is generated is to compensate the fans, going for free or giving them back money in their subscription,” he added.

Roig then went on to make it clear that he saw the proposal with good eyes and nothing else, as it hands them the opportunity to expand their global presence.

“La Liga has proposed it to us and we are in favour because it opens doors to the competition and to Villarreal.”

“For us, it is positive to open up to the North American market. We have 20 academies,” he added.

Source: Mundo Deportivo