Tonight’s match between Real Oviedo and Espanyol was the forerunner: the televisions, however, did not have a view of the pitch
La Liga in protest. The players of the Spanish top division, to demonstrate against the league’s decision to move Villarreal-Barcelona to Miami on December 20th, have decided that they will remain still for the first 15 seconds of the matches of this ninth matchday. And the match played tonight between Real Oviedo and Espanyol was the forerunner. The protest was announced by Afe, the Spanish footballers’ association, which accused La Liga of “lack of transparency, dialogue and coherence” towards the players. “The union has decided to exclude the players of Barcelona and Villarreal, the clubs promoting the project, from the initiative, despite sharing the reasons and underlying criticisms, to prevent the protest from being interpreted as a measure against a particular club.” La Liga is annoyed and, according to Marca, has sent a letter to the players of all teams to remind them that it has tried three times (through as many official communications) to meet with the Afe to provide all the necessary details on the project, without receiving a response from the players’ union. Furthermore, during this evening’s protest in Oviedo-Espanyol, the television broadcasters decided not to frame the pitch during the first 15 seconds, showing images of the stadium. A protest that was therefore only seen by the spectators present at the stadium.