Madrid court backs federation in ban of league match in US

MADRID (AP) — A Madrid court has tossed out an appeal by the Spanish league against a prior decision favoring the Spanish soccer federation’s refusal to allow a league game be played in the United States, the federation said Thursday.

The federation celebrated the decision, saying that “for a second time the justice system has addressed this issue and once again it went against the position maintained by the league.”

The appeal was related to the league’s unsuccessful lawsuit brought against the federation after it nixed the league's scheme to hold a game between Barcelona and Girona in Miami in January 2019. The federation also rejected a league plan to hold a game between Atlético Madrid and Villarreal in the United States the following season.

The federation argues that holding a league game abroad would distort the competition and be unfair to the other teams. The league denies this, saying that it wants to help promote the competition in foreign markets.

“We think staging a match abroad would be a fantastic way to promote the competition and will continue to pursue it, like the RFEF does with the Spanish Super Cup,” the league said.

The federation held a revamped four-team version of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia two seasons ago. It had planned to do the same last year, but had to hold it in Spain because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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