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La Liga reveals plans to take Spanish soccer to United States

Spain's La Liga plans to stage a match in the United States, its first venture outside Europe, as part of a north American expansion drive, the league said Thursday.

La Liga reveals plans to take Spanish soccer to United States
La Liga match between Real Madrid and Barça in May. Photo: AFP

The teams and the venue for the match were not disclosed in the statement from the league which has formed a joint-venture, LaLiga North America, to boost its profile in the United States and Canada.

El Pais newspaper said the match would take place over the coming 2018-19 season and would probably feature either Barcelona or Real Madrid as one of the teams.

The plan was immediately attacked by Spain's professional footballers union (AFE) which released a statement saying neither players nor fans had been consulted.

“As usual, La Liga ignores the opinion of footballers and  commits them to events which  only benefits (La Liga) without taking into account the health of the players and the risks involved for them…” the statement said.   

Supporters including those holding shares in league clubs also protested, calling for mobilisation against the plan.   

La Liga has been criticised in the past for its overseas expansion plans, notably for authorising a morning kick-off for the Barcelona-Real Madrid “Classico” last December to cater for the convenience of television viewers in Asia.

However, the opposition has failed to dent La Liga's drive, encouraged by its president Javier Tebas, to gain a bigger share of the global football pie, notably competing for market share with the powerful English Premier League    

Last season la Liga took €3.6 billion, or $4.1 billion, in receipts, 40 percent from TV rights, with a pre-tax profit of €234 million. It hopes to break the €4 billion mark for the first time in the coming season which 
opens Friday.

The North American move further confirms Spanish football's export ambitions following Tuesday's announcement of a deal with social media platform Facebook to broadcast La Liga matches live in South Asia.   

La Liga is planning strategy for its North American drive with Relevent Sports, the promotor behind the International Champions Cup, a close-season tournament for top European clubs.

READ MORE: Six new signings to watch in La Liga

RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

https://twitter.com/GravesenFumado/status/1764242481984491822

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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