La Liga in America

[SirBalon]

LFP President Javier Tebas on a radio station left this little quote for the AFE (Players Union) and the players themselves:

"I think the players values and ethics were left at the negotiating tables of their respective clubs this summer and now there's more money to come in, there's more values and ethics surfacing once again. It's not even curious."

[Dave]

Real Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui has said he cannot see a La Liga game in the USA happening despite the league's expansion plan.

Earlier this month, La Liga announced plans to hold regular season matches in the United States.

The Spanish top flight entered into a 15-year deal with Relevent Sports, a US promoter, to form a new organisation, La Liga North America, which it says "will work to cultivate soccer culture" on the continent.

The Spanish players' union (AFE) held a meeting with top players on Wednesday, saying the players were unanimously against the proposal.

Lopetegui, whose side beat Getafe 2-0 in the first game of the season, has criticised the plan.

"We're obviously thinking about other things, but I've seen this and I'm with the players on this one," he said.

"They [La Liga] have got arguments and reasons to think what they do and I can't see it happening. That's my opinion."

[ScoRoss]

The blaming of 'Americanisation' of football is only equalled by the blaming of the influence of 'European soccer' by American sport fans, now that adverts are tarnishing their jerseys and fields/floors/rinks.

It's hilarious to watch people blame another 'culture' for their own selling out.

[Danny]

On 18/08/2018 at 07:38, Spike said:

Hispanic is a really stupid term in English anyway. It just means any culture or nationality that is significantly influenced by the Spanish. Morocco and the Philippines both have significant Spanish influence but neither speak the language.

It has racial connotations in America because most people think this when they hear the term 'Hispanic'.

I watched an episode of Orange Is The New Black and in it the main character, Mrs. White McWhiteson speaks Spanish to a Mexican lady who then berates an American-Mexican because even the white lady can speak Spanish. I get the point that it is about loss of culture and how the Spanish language on that side of the world doesn't necessarily match up with white Americans the same way English does.....that Spanish is almost an example of being an ethnic minority but Spanish is still fucking Spanish (obviously aware of a. various regional languages around Spain and b. national changes to a language forced onto them)  A colonial remnant of the very white (well slightly olive ) invasion of....Spain. The perspectives do change depending what side of the "pond" you're on.

Nout to do with this topic but your post reminded me.

[SirBalon]

So the game selected to be played in the US will be GIRONA FC v FC BARCELONA.

[Stan]

1 hour ago, SirBalon said:

So the game selected to be played in the US will be GIRONA FC v FC BARCELONA.

officially? As in, it's definitely going ahead despite the player protests?

[SirBalon]

18 minutes ago, Stan said:

officially? As in, it's definitely going ahead despite the player protests?

The players haven’t really protested. They attended the AFE meeting as they should do when called upon but in interviews with some of those players they refrained from making any statements that had any context. 

[Stan]

13 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

The players haven’t really protested. They attended the AFE meeting as they should do when called upon but in interviews with some of those players they refrained from making any statements that had any context. 

yeah by protest I meant where all clubs were represented at that meeting and all seemed to be against the idea. 

[Eco]

Surely not official. Infantino was asked about this during his recent visit to the U.S., and said that for it to take place, La Liga would need FIFA and UEFA approval, and that they hadn't gotten it yet for such and move, and how he (Infantino) thought it was foolish to even consider it. 

[SirBalon]

18 minutes ago, Stan said:

yeah by protest I meant where all clubs were represented at that meeting and all seemed to be against the idea. 

The AFE is the player’s union. They attended because they were called upon to attend and they got criticised for it although in all honesty nothing substantial came from any of the players in terms of a statement. The statement came from the president of the AFE, Aganzo. 

[SirBalon]

2 minutes ago, Eco said:

Surely not official. Infantino was asked about this during his recent visit to the U.S., and said that for it to take place, La Liga would need FIFA and UEFA approval, and that they hadn't gotten it yet for such and move, and how he (Infantino) thought it was foolish to even consider it. 

Spain, Italy and France have played their respective Super Cups outside national borders in recent years without any approval from the international football authorities. I think it’s out of their jurisdiction as far as I know. 

[Eco]

2 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Spain, Italy and France have played their respective Super Cups outside national borders in recent years without any approval from the international football authorities. I think it’s out of their jurisdiction as far as I know. 

He was speaking specifically about league games from Europe being played during the MLS season here. 

[SirBalon]

4 minutes ago, Eco said:

He was speaking specifically about league games from Europe being played during the MLS season here. 

Maybe that may be the case as I’m not 100% sure on this but it doesn’t make sense as the Super Cups are sanctioned trophies that come under UEFA (in this case) and FIFA. They are part of the same umbrella of rules and regs as the respective leagues. 

[Eco]

10 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Maybe that may be the case as I’m not 100% sure on this but it doesn’t make sense as the Super Cups are sanctioned trophies that come under UEFA (in this case) and FIFA. They are part of the same umbrella of rules and regs as the respective leagues. 

I thought it was odd myself, but i figured he knew more about it than I. 

[SirBalon]

11 minutes ago, Eco said:

I thought it was odd myself, but i figured he knew more about it than I. 

Well definitely, the authorities know more than us. 

But I find it odd that they let the Super Cups play abroad while questioning a league game. The main reason I say this is because I’m not having a lesson in ethics coming from that lot (UEFA and FIFA) when they have been the biggest sellouts in the history of the game with all sorts of corruption and selling their souls for money while ruining both the European Championships (UEFA) and the World Cup (FIFA). 

[Smiley Culture]

It’s just more proof, not that there was any more needed, of the commercialisation of Football. I’m a bit apathetic to it now, we all probably knew that Football at the top level would lean towards this sort of thing, given the success of similar fixtures being taken to new continents in predominantly American sports and clubs going on pre/post/mid-season tours of foreign lands. 

I’ve got onboard with this idea tbh, not necessarily because I think it needs to happen to make Football better or any other football related reason, but more because I can’t see how this sort of thing could be stopped by fans. Clubs, or more specifically, their owners, who tend to have no or little sense of the former community nature of Football Clubs in England, have a hell of a lot of the power and alongside the likes of UEFA and FIFA, fans voices have no power whatsoever. 

I don’t want to be knee-jerk or sensationalist but if this goes through I think this paves the way for other countries and their elite leagues to do it and I’m certain they will and it wouldn’t surprise me if we’re talking on here about a Premier League game being played in Asia/America and discussing which team will adjust to the conditions better.

[Stan]

ugh, it's actually happening.

 

[Eco]

F*ck La Liga and every other league that attempts this. 

[Guest]

Stupid to consider Girona as one of the teams at home. Barcelona or Real Madrid need to be at home as they don't need home advantage to win. Girona might well need it. 

They just keep screwing up. Barcelona vs Girona would have maybe been OK, not the other way around.

[Eco]

12 minutes ago, Blue said:

Stupid to consider Girona as one of the teams at home. Barcelona or Real Madrid need to be at home as they don't need home advantage to win. Girona might well need it. 

They just keep screwing up. Barcelona vs Girona would have maybe been OK, not the other way around.

Girona when home = $
Barcelona when home = $$$$$
Girona playing Barcelona 'at home' in Miami = $$$$

$$$$>$

[SirBalon]

40 minutes ago, Blue said:

Stupid to consider Girona as one of the teams at home. Barcelona or Real Madrid need to be at home as they don't need home advantage to win. Girona might well need it. 

They just keep screwing up. Barcelona vs Girona would have maybe been OK, not the other way around.

I agree completely and this has been a theme of debate ever since the topic arose. But the thing is that none of the big clubs would EVER contemplate playing their home game away with 3 points at stake while the smaller clubs will get a massive gate receipt apart from what La Liga recieves in a shared scenario for the game.

It's all about money and money is what pays the big players wages.

[...Dan]

Imagine Girona lose it and finish a point from safety at the end of the season.

[SirBalon]

From what I'm hearing I now understand why Gianni Infantino (FIFA President) has made the comments he has.  The RFEF (Spanish football federation) has been in an eternal war with the LFP (La Liga) and their president, Javier Tebas.  

Gianni Infantino worked for many years for the RFEF under the presidency of the now deposed Ángel María Villar in various roles.  Infantino's history in Spanish football opposing the split of La Liga from the RFEF in the past makes this all very comprehensible. 

But also from what I'm hearing, both UEFA and FIFA haven't got a leg to stand on where a territorial league authority decides a game should be played.  Their jurisdiction (as I thought) doesn't reach that far.  What we seem to have had here is a past war from Infantino's past trying to dig in an already open scar.

[SirBalon]

13 minutes ago, ...Dan said:

Imagine Girona lose it and finish a point from safety at the end of the season.

Well they're missing their talisman Pablo Machín who has gone onto coach Sevilla this season. They've started the season off pretty badly compared to the last under Eusebio Sacristán.

[Spike]

Booo, they could have at least come to Chicago.