MADRID, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso and Athletic Bilbao's Ernesto Valverde voiced support on Saturday for the decision by the Spanish Football Players' Union (AFE) to stage a symbolic protest against the Spanish Football League (La Liga) plans to play the game between Villarreal and FC Barcelona, scheduled for Dec. 20 in Miami.
The AFE said that, in protest of the move it believes was taken without consultation by La Liga and which risks injury to players, teams would stand still for the first 15 seconds of every game this weekend.
Oviedo and Espanyol players protested in this way on Friday night before the match that Espanyol won 2-0, and the same protest will take place at other La Liga grounds, except in matches involving Barcelona and Villarreal, to avoid putting the players of those two clubs in a difficult situation.
When asked about the Miami match at his press conference ahead of Sunday's trip to Getafe, Alonso replied, "we are against the match. We believe it distorts the competition."
"There hasn't been unanimity or consultation for it to be played on neutral ground," he said, adding that he believed the players' protest to be a good thing and the "feeling is positive."
"We believe it could happen if there were unanimity (between league and players) but that's not the case," he said.
Ernesto Valverde was also asked about the Miami match in his press conference, and the Athletic Bilbao boss said that "the most important thing in the world of football is the players - much more than anything else. They don't protest much, so when they do protest about something you have to listen and respect their opinion," he commented. ■
