PREM chiefs have NO interest in playing games abroad – despite Spanish FA bosses giving the green light for Barcelona to face Villarreal in Miami in December.
Fifa made a U-turn over domestic matches being allowed to be played outside their home territories last year, settling a drawn-out legal case in the US.
That opened the way for serious negotiations, with the Spanish FA confirming they will ask Fifa and Uefa to approve the December 21 LaLiga clash that was scheduled for Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica instead being played at the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium the previous day.
But Prem bosses are insistent that there remain no plans or even desires to follow suit.
While there has not been a formal written statement dismissing the idea, League chief executive Richard Masters has consistently maintained the Prem is a domestic competition that is played in the UK, stating last year the idea was “not in our current plans”.
Only last week, Masters reiterated: “We had a look at that back in 2008. It was very controversial in the UK.
“The idea behind playing matches abroad is to grow the sport, to grow your league.
“But we’ve managed to do that in the intervening period, by different methods, broadcasting partnerships, digital technology, events like our Summer Series, making the Premier League truly global.
“I genuinely think it’s the world’s favourite version of the world’s favourite sport, and we’re really proud of that.
“So there’s a whole bunch of reasons not to do it, but mainly because we’re happy with what we have in the UK and we’re not changing that.
“We have clubs that have hosted NFL games and an interesting relationship with the NFL but on this particular topic we’re very different. We’ve got no plans to take matches abroad – there would be significant pushback.”
Masters will reiterate that stance, if asked, in his pre-season message on Thursday.
However, the position of the League is conditional on the wishes of the clubs, with the majority of the 20 “shareholders” now under foreign ownership.
Some 11 of them, including Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool, have majority US owners.
Under Prem regulations, major decisions or changes require the approval of 14 clubs to be confirmed.
At this stage there have been no formal votes on playing games overseas since the collapse of the infamous “39th game” idea in 2008.
Were such a proposal to be passed it would be a major test of the Government’s new Independent Regulator, which would be under pressure to step in and block the idea.
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