Barcelona’s game against Villarreal in La Liga will be played in the United States of America later this year. The clash in Miami, in fact, will be historically remembered as the first La Liga game ever played overseas.

La Liga president Javier Tebas has been one of the primary driving forces behind the decision, and both clubs have agreed to the proposal, given that they stand to benefit financially from the move.

Concurrently, however, it has found stiff resistance from several other La Liga clubs, including Real Madrid, who have come out and called it unfair and threatening to the integrity of the competition.

Tebas’ defence

Speaking to the media in a recent interview via Mundo Deportivo, La Liga president Javier Tebas once again came out to ruthlessly defend his idea of taking a few games of the league overseas to boost the popularity of the brand.

“Once a year it seems to us like a way to promote the competition and, in addition, it is a way of having respect for the fans that we have all over the world,” he said.

Adding on how it was a good idea that only needed regulatory modifications before becoming mainstream, Tebas said:

“What needs to be done is to regulate it. One game per league, and that way no one would have any problems, and it would help all the competition we’re facing from all the American leagues.”

The president then went on to explain how his idea was backed by the fact that Europe borrowed a lot from the United States and that sharing their football was a fair compromise.

“For me, Europe is an amazing continent. We’re full of American fast food, we don’t have a single European technology company. And we have something good, which is football, and we say, ‘Let’s not play a game that breaks with tradition.'”

Finally, Tebas spoke on how it was only fitting that Europe shared its football with the American continent in exchange for all that they took from them.

“No, this is promoting tradition. We have brought the language, universities, culture, architecture, and bullfighting. And now it seems that they are going to take something away from us.”