Clarification comes after La Liga approved a competitive fixture between Barcelona and Villareal to be played in the US
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has made it clear that the league will not play any competitive matches abroad.
This comes after the Spanish football federation (RFEF) approved a La Liga request to play a fixture between Barcelona and Villareal in the US. The RFEF has since forwarded the proposal to Uefa and Fifa and La Liga is awaiting approval from both bodies.
But Masters told Sky Sports on Wednesday the development “hasn’t changed our view about matches abroad”.
Back in 2008, Premier League clubs proposed an extra round of matches to be played at neutral venues outside England, but the move sparked widespread controversy and eventually collapsed.
The idea has been resurrected time and again over the past decade but it has repeatedly failed.
The Premier League’s CEO insists going ahead with the plan is no longer necessary for the English game.
Masters said: “Our objective at the time when thinking about it was to help grow the Premier League around the world. We’ve been able to do that through different means, through brilliant broadcast partnerships, through digital technology, investing in other areas, like the Summer Series we’ve just had in the US.
“And now the Premier League is genuinely a global league. There are billions of people who will be tuning in over the course of the next nine months to watch Premier League action.
“So we’ve achieved that objective by different means so the necessity has dissipated.”
