Why is a Spanish soccer match set to be held in the US so controversial?

It’s something that is very familiar for American sports fans: Your favorite team in your favorite sport is sent to play a regular season game abroad.

The NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL all regularly do this and, in some cases, are increasing the amount of games held overseas every year in an effort to expand the footprint of the sport, as well as for economic reasons.

Now, European soccer is joining America’s superpower sports in attempting to host fixtures beyond its native shores.

On August 11, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) officially gave its stamp of approval to a plan proposed by LaLiga to play a regular season match between FC Barcelona and Villarreal – which was originally scheduled to be played at the Estadio de la Cerámica in Villarreal on December 21 – at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

The proposal was then “reluctantly” approved by European governing body UEFA on Monday and now moves to world governing body FIFA for the final authorization steps in what would be a groundbreaking game: the first ever European fixture to be played in the US.