MADRID (AP) – Real Madrid goaltender Thibaut Courtois criticized Spanish league president Javier Tebas on Tuesday over the decision to play a regular-season game in Miami in December.
Courtois also complained about the league’s decision to censor protests for the upcoming game. Villarreal vs Barcelona match He says that changes the level of competition.
“Teams should play at home and away,” he said. “Playing against a team at home and away is not the same. It is difficult to play away in the Spanish league. It is very difficult to play away on the field of Villarreal. Every team has to play home and away unless there is a big reason why it cannot be done.”
Villarreal will nominally be the home team for the Dec. 20 game at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
Previous attempts were thwarted by protests from fan groups, the Spanish Football Federation and the country’s players’ association, but the league was finally able to arrange regular-season games to be held overseas.
The players expressed their feelings by stopping However, these protests against the Miami game were either censored or not completely broadcast to television viewers. The television coverage of the game switched to the stadium exterior before kickoff, showing only part of the field from a distance.
“It’s not surprising,” Courtois said of Tebas and censorship. “He has publicly challenged people on social media and done this type of thing for a long time. As I said before, I’ve never seen a league president in any sport say anything like that. Hiding a protest and changing the reason for a protest is censorship, it’s manipulation, and this is serious.”
Courtois refuted some claims that the Spanish league is simply doing what top American sports have already been doing for some time to foster brand growth and bring additional financial benefits.
“It’s easy to talk about the NBA and the NFL,” Courtois said. “In the NBA there are 82 games and then in the playoffs nothing changes. And in the NFL everyone voted. Here it was the other way around.”
Players have complained that negotiations for the Miami game lacked transparency, with clubs and players not being allowed to weigh in.
Courtois spoke at a press conference ahead of Madrid’s Champions League match against Juventus on Wednesday.
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