After the furore that the plans to stage a Spanish domestic game abroad have caused around the continent, the founder and director of media giants Mediapro, Jaume Roures, may scarcely have anticipated the backlash from European fans over his announcement that his company was hoping to arrange the staging of a Champions League final in the United States.
He told a Catalan radio station that “talks are ongoing investigating the feasibility of hosting a future Champions League final in New York City".
He added that the motivation for UEFA to look toward an arrangement with Mediapro was the same one that drove La Liga to pencil in the mooted Girona vs. Barcelona game in Miami, 2019, into their calendar.
The announcement of that game was met by fury by fans and players alike, with the body that represents the league’s players threatening all manner of actions if the teams were forced to take part in the tie.
The likelihood of that game going ahead remains unclear, with the Barcelona and Spain midfielder Sergio Busquets remaining opaque when asked about the chances of the plan going ahead while on international duty this week.
"We can't deny it or say yes, we're look for solutions that will be best for the football players, we want things to be done well," he said.
The Mediapro group, which is headed up by Roures and has been making what might best be described as disruptive moves in the sports broadcasting field, is headquartered in Barcelona and employs 6,600 people in 32 countries.
