Players refused to move for the first 15 seconds of matches in La Liga on Saturday as protests at La Liga's decision to continued.
The high-profile Spanish fixtures involving Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, who had home games against Girona and Osasuna respectively, followed the precedent set by Oviedo and Espanyol on Friday evening. There were identical protests at Sevilla v Mallorca and Villarreal v Real Betis.
As had happened in the match between Oviedo and Espanyol, television cameras for Barcelona's game cut away to show the exterior of the stadium, denying audiences a view of the protest. In the other fixtures, TV broadcasts focused closely from directly above on the centre circle, instead of taking a wide angle of the field and showing players from both teams standing still.
In August, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) approved plans to move Villarreal's fixture against Barcelona to the Hard Rock Stadium on 20 December - a decision which sparked discontent in Spain. The Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE) said in a statement they had co-ordinated with the captains of each La Liga club to protest symbolically against the league's lack of transparency, dialogue and coherence.
The AFE had not asked Barcelona and Villarreal players to participate in the protests to avoid it being interpreted as a possible measure against any club, but they did so anyway. "We were not part of the protest, but we felt that we needed to follow along out of respect for our fellow professionals," said Barcelona midfielder Pedri.
La Liga challenged the accusations made by AFE, stating that they had a willingness to meet with the AFE to foster dialogue that could allow them to explain the project. The AFE said demonstrations will take place at the remaining La Liga games this weekend.
Real Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso said: "We are against the Miami match as we believe it distorts the competition.
"There hasn't been unanimity or consultation for it to be played on neutral ground. The protests are positive and that sentiment is positive. We believe it could happen if there were unanimity, but that's not the case."
The AFE said: “We are rejecting a project that does not have the approval of the main players in our sport in the face of La Liga's constant refusals and unrealistic proposals". They added that La Liga needs to create a "negotiating table in which all information is shared and the exceptional characteristics of the project are analysed", where the "concerns of the footballers are addressed, and the protection of their labour rights and compliance with current regulations are guaranteed".
Confirmation of the Miami game followed a decision by the Italian football federation (FIGC) to sanction a Serie A match between AC Milan and Como to be played in Perth, Australia, in February.
