FIFA has moved towards ending decades of football tradition by revising rules that block domestic league matches from being held in other countries.
However, fans are likely to object to their teams' home games being moved thousands of miles away.
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The United States and Saudi Arabia are expected to be keen to attract competitive games from major European countries, and FIFA recently agreed to withdraw from an ongoing court case in New York brought by promoter Relevent to challenge the policy.
Spanish league president Javier Tebas said in April that LaLiga had hopes of playing games abroad.
“I don't know when, but this time LaLiga will play official matches abroad. I think it could be from the 2025-26 season,” Tebas told Expansión.
“An official game in the United States would strengthen our position in the North American market, which is the second [biggest] for LaLiga after Spain.
“There are other really competitive leagues coming up, so we can't always do the same thing. They would get ahead of us.”
FIFA's new policy will likely appeal to the growing number of international owners of European clubs, including the wave of American investors in the English Premier League, Italy's Serie A and France's Ligue 1, as well as state-backed teams. like Abu Dhabi. owned by Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, owned by Qatar, and Newcastle United, owned by Saudi Arabia.
FIFA is now setting up a panel of 10 to 15 people representing football stakeholders to advise within a few months on changing the rules on so-called “out of territory” games. The rules were last changed in 2014.
Since then, attempts to hold European league games abroad, including bringing Barcelona to Miami in 2019, have been blocked as American promoters seek to offer fans more than just preseason exhibition games involving the best clubs in the world.
FIFA ordered its task force, which has not yet been appointed, to consider fairness and give “prior notice to fans who may miss the opportunity to attend a home or away match.”
Other factors for the FIFA panel include “respect for the recognized structure of international football” and potential disruption to fans, teams and leagues in the country hosting “off-territory” games.
