FIFA President Gianni Infantino Casts Doubt on La Liga Match in United States

FIFA president Gianni Infantino cast doubt on plans for a La Liga match to be played in the United States in a statement on Tuesday.

Football's governing body is yet to ratify the proposed fixture between Girona and Barcelona taking place in Miami on January 26, and while Infantino did not rule it out, he does not appear enamoured with the idea.

Per ESPN's Adriana Garcia, Infantino said:

"I think I would prefer to see a great MLS game in the U.S. rather than La Liga being in the U.S. In football, the general principle is that you play a 'home' match at 'home', and not in a foreign country.

"There are procedures in place for these things, so we will wait to receive anything official and then we'll look into it. There are rules, regulations, that everyone complies with.

"In particular, such a proposal has to be approved by the respective associations, by the respective confederations and FIFA should also express a view on the matter, not least since it would have implications for football at global level as well."

La Liga came to a 15-year agreement with Relevent Sports in August that will see the United States host a league match, possibly each season.

It was met with widespread condemnation from players in the Spanish top flight, per AS:

Though his Real Madrid side will not be involved, manager Julen Lopetegui has also spoken out against it.

Per Tom Allnutt of Agence France-Presse, he said that playing "in the same conditions, on the same pitches—that's what makes the league equal."

The match would replace Girona's home tie with Barca, which the Guardian's Sid Lowe finds problematic for a number of reasons, as he told Sunday Supplement:

Despite such objections, the two clubs and La Liga have formally petitioned the Royal Spanish Football Federation asking that the match be allowed to take place.

However, the RFEF is yet to sign off on it, and it also needs to be approved by a number of footballing authorities, including FIFA, UEFA and CONCACAF.

A source in the RFEF, which intends come to a decision on the matter before the January 5 deadline, told Garcia that Infantino "does not approve of it and would prefer if it didn't take place."

La Liga president Javier Tebas has not received Infantino's stance on the matter well:

Per Garcia, he wrote "I will remind the president of FIFA that in the MLS, three Canada teams participate, and Toronto FC is the current champion, and in Canada there is another professional league."

Unless Infantino's concerns can be put to bed, it appears the much-discussed fixture may not go ahead this season.