Javier Tebas's presidency of La Liga has been marked by controversy from the very start. His latest blunder was the collapse of the league's plans to host a game in Miami on December 20 against FC Barcelona. The decision came as a shock to Villarreal, who were set to be the "home" team at the Hard Rock Stadium, but they had been aware that something was amiss for some time.
When news broke that the game would not go ahead, cameras caught Villarreal's CEO Fernando Roig Negueroles in an emotional state. The 60-year-old looked stunned and even furious as he left a phone call, his face filled with anger and disappointment. His reaction said it all - this was a defeat for La Liga, but also a personal blow.
Roig's anger stems from the fact that his team had been working tirelessly to make this project happen. They had made sacrifices, including giving up their own home game, in order to support La Liga's plans. Meanwhile, Barcelona had profited from the deal, with president Joan Laporta claiming it would help offset losses incurred by playing at smaller stadiums.
This is not an isolated incident. The whole process was marred by poor communication and a lack of consideration for those affected. Players, coaches, and staff were kept in the dark about the plans, despite their requests for transparency. In fact, one supporters' group had to be persuaded by Villarreal's club to support the project.
La Liga's decision to host the game in Miami was always going to be a long shot. The project faced opposition from Real Madrid, who cited concerns over the integrity of the league. Despite this, Tebas and his team pressed on, with the president announcing that an official La Liga game would take place in Miami just 13 days before the event.
This is not the first time La Liga has tried to host a game abroad. Previous attempts have been met with failure, but Tebas remains determined to try again. However, this time it must be done differently. Uribes, the president of Spain's sports council, has called for more dialogue and transparency from now on.
The decision will come as no surprise to fans who are already wary of La Liga's leadership style. As one journalist noted, "You can't do things this way." Tebas's reputation is taking another hit, and it remains to be seen whether the league will ever succeed in hosting a game abroad.
When news broke that the game would not go ahead, cameras caught Villarreal's CEO Fernando Roig Negueroles in an emotional state. The 60-year-old looked stunned and even furious as he left a phone call, his face filled with anger and disappointment. His reaction said it all - this was a defeat for La Liga, but also a personal blow.
Roig's anger stems from the fact that his team had been working tirelessly to make this project happen. They had made sacrifices, including giving up their own home game, in order to support La Liga's plans. Meanwhile, Barcelona had profited from the deal, with president Joan Laporta claiming it would help offset losses incurred by playing at smaller stadiums.
This is not an isolated incident. The whole process was marred by poor communication and a lack of consideration for those affected. Players, coaches, and staff were kept in the dark about the plans, despite their requests for transparency. In fact, one supporters' group had to be persuaded by Villarreal's club to support the project.
La Liga's decision to host the game in Miami was always going to be a long shot. The project faced opposition from Real Madrid, who cited concerns over the integrity of the league. Despite this, Tebas and his team pressed on, with the president announcing that an official La Liga game would take place in Miami just 13 days before the event.
This is not the first time La Liga has tried to host a game abroad. Previous attempts have been met with failure, but Tebas remains determined to try again. However, this time it must be done differently. Uribes, the president of Spain's sports council, has called for more dialogue and transparency from now on.
The decision will come as no surprise to fans who are already wary of La Liga's leadership style. As one journalist noted, "You can't do things this way." Tebas's reputation is taking another hit, and it remains to be seen whether the league will ever succeed in hosting a game abroad.
honestly i think la liga needs to rethink its strategy for like 1000x... Hosting games abroad is gonna come across as desperate & kinda racist 
i mean what's next? hosting games in china or africa? it feels like they're just trying to chase tv rights and money at the expense of the fans and clubs involved... uribes is right, more dialogue and transparency is needed, not some random announcement that comes out of nowhere 
meanwhile barcelona gets to reap the benefits 
and what really grinds my gears is that players coaches staff were all kept in the dark about the whole thing 
poor communication and lack of consideration for those affected is just not cool 
. I get why La Liga wanted to try something new, but poor communication is always gonna kill you in business, or sports management 
. I mean, who doesn't want transparency? You can't blame the people of Villarreal for being furious, they were literally giving up their own home game to make it happen 
. And yeah, Barcelona profiting from it while everyone else is left feeling left out is just not cool 
.
I'm so done with Javier Tebas and his constant mistakes 
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. I'm starting to think that Uribes is onto something with his call for more dialogue and transparency... maybe it's time for Tebas to step down? 
. The lack of communication from La Liga is ridiculous, especially since players, coaches, and staff asked for transparency 
. And poor Joan Laporta, profiting off Barcelona while others are getting hurt... it's just not right 
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villarreal and everyone else was counting on this game. and now uribe is right, more dialogue and transparency are needed 
and respecting the teams that are willing to support ur crazy plans 
anyway, this is just another nail in tebas's coffin 
can we pls just get back to normal la liga stuff already? 
and now their ceo is all emotional about it... poor guy. it's not like they didn't see it coming though, there were so many red flags throughout this process 
players coaches staff everyone was kept in the dark which is super frustrating. and barcelona just profited from it? 
we'll see how this one plays out but if tebas keeps messing up like this... 
. And what really gets me is how they kept players and staff in the dark about everything. Transparency, guys? You can't even get that right? 
because they knew something was up but nobody told them. and barcelona gets to reap all the benefits while la liga takes a hit again 
it's just another example of tebas being reckless and not thinking about the bigger picture. uribes is right though, we need more transparency and dialogue from la liga if they wanna succeed in anything