Real Madrid CF would like to express its members, supporters and football fans in general the strongest rejection of the proposal to play outside of Spain The match that corresponds to Matchday 17 of the National First Division League Championship between Villarreal CF and FC Barcelona.
The measure, promoted without prior information or consultation with the clubs participating in that competition, violates the essential principle of territorial reciprocity that reigns two-round league matches (one match at home and the other with the opposite team), changing the competitive balance and providing unnecessary sports benefit to the application.
The integrity of competition requires that all competitions are held under the same conditions for all teams. Unilaterally changing this regime breaks the equality between contenders, endangers the legitimacy of the results and puts an unacceptable precedent that opens the door to exceptions based on interests other than strictly sporty, with a clear impact on sporting integrity and the risk of falsification of competition. If this proposal is implemented, the consequences of it would be so serious that they would mean one before and after the world of football.
Any change of this nature must in any case have the express and unanimous agreement of all clubs participating in the competition, in addition to strict respecting the national and international rules that regulate the organization of official competitions.
In defense of this principle, Real Madrid has already performed three specific actions:
1. Request FIFA, as a guarantee for the international football rules, not to authorize the importance of the match without the earlier permission of all clubs participating in the competition.
2. Request UEFA, as a guarantee for the integrity of European competitions and regulatory coherence with FIFA, to encourage the RFEF to withdraw or refuse the request, which the reconfirming criterion that will be set here in 2018 will prevent this not being played here in the national territorium, except in properly stated.
3. Request the higher sports council not to grant the necessary administrative authorization without such a unanimous permission.
Real Madrid confirms its dedication to respect the national and international rules that guarantee the honesty and the good functioning of official competitions and will defend their compliance for all competent authorities.