Day 2 protests by La Liga players against game in Miami still censored on TV
BARCELONA Spain AP For a second straight day protests by La Liga players against the league s decision to stage a match 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 seconds after kickoff in opposition to a regular season event 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 The players union publicized 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 demonstrated the outside of Oviedo s stadium while its players and Espanyol s held the protest The feed went back to normal after seconds when the players had started play The union mentioned the symbolic action was to protest the lack of transparency dialogue and coherence of La Liga regarding the possibility of playing a championship in the United States Barcelona coach Hansi Flick and veteran midfielder Frenkie de Jong have criticized the Miami contest saying it adds unnecessary extra excursion to their already packed schedules The Dec 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 championship 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 area Tebas disclosed the league plans to make an international match an annual event AP soccer https apnews com hub soccer Source
