AP

MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid president Florentino Perez says that his team will not participate in the Spanish league's scheme to play regular-season matches in the United States.

Perez says Sunday that "We are not going to the United States. we do not know who this interests, surely not the clubs or the fans. We are vehemently against it."

La Liga wants to hold a competitive match between Barcelona and Girona near Miami on Jan. 26. to kick off a 15-year plan to promote the Spanish competition in North America.

The league says that it wouldn't force clubs to play in the overseas match, which it calls "voluntary."

Both Barcelona and Girona support the unprecedented venture, but the players' union and some fans have criticized it.

The Spanish soccer federation responded on Friday to a request made by the league to authorize the match with a letter listing several problems it found in the proposal.

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