For a second straight day, protests by La Liga players against the league’s decision to stage a game in the United States were not broadcast for television audiences.
Neither of the television feeds for Saturday’s Sevilla-Mallorca and Barcelona-Girona contests started with a normal wide shot of the field, which would have shown the players remaining still for the first 15 seconds after kickoff in opposition to a regular season game between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami in December.
The TV broadcast at Sevilla focused closely on the center circle for the first seconds, while at Barcelona the feed was from outside the stadium.
Players’ union cites “lack of transparency” in playing U.S. games
The players’ union announced the protest plans on Friday, saying all the captains of the top-flight teams supported it for games in the ninth round from Friday through Monday.
For the first protest on Friday night, the TV feed showed the outside of Oviedo’s stadium while its players and Espanyol’s held the protest. The feed went back to normal after 25 seconds when the players started playing.
The union said the symbolic action was to protest the “lack of transparency, dialogue and coherence of La Liga regarding the possibility of playing a game in the United States.”
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick and veteran midfielder Frenkie de Jong have criticized the Miami game, saying it adds unnecessary extra travel to their already packed schedules.
The Dec. 20 match will be at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
La Liga president Javier Tebas has defended the game as a key to boosting “revenues in the mid- to long-term” and increasing the value of his competition’s television rights, which lag behind those of England’s Premier League.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta backs the move by saying it represents an opportunity to further push into the American sports market.
Tebas said the league plans to make an international match an annual event.
