-
Nieuws
- 54 minutes ago
La Liga star slams the Spanish Cup being held in Saudi Arabia: 'It's s**t!'
Martin Macdonald
- 31 Dec 2025 05:01 CST
- 6 min read
Nieuws
Athletic Club forward Inaki Williams has criticised the organisers of the Spanish Super Cup for once again holding the competition in Saudi Arabia.
The Super Cup will take place in January and will be contested by Athletic, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
Athletic will face Barcelona in one semi-final and face the winners of Real Madrid versus Atletico Madrid.
Teams qualify as the winners and runners-up of La Liga and the Copa del Rey.
In 2018, the Super Cup final took place for the first time outside of Spain as it was held in Tangier, Morocco.
The next year, in 2019, the Royal Spanish Football Federation struck a €120 million deal to hold the Super Cup in Saudi Arabia for the next three years. In June of 2021, an extension to that deal was made so the competition will be held in the Middle East country until at least 2029.
When the deal was announced it was negatively received not only due to the fact it was a Spanish tournament set to be played abroad, but the fact it was to be held in a country that has been criticised for its human rights and women's rights record.
Williams is the latest figure to slam the RFEF for the decision.
"For me, playing (the tournament) in Saudi Arabia is sh*t," he told reporters.
"Taking a national competition out to another country does not make things easy for (the fans) to move and follow the games. When we play there, it feels like we are the away team. Above that, in the upcoming days, I am going to be a dad, and it is a big hassle to go away with my wife and son here (in Spain)."
He raised similar criticism last year when Athletic were beaten by Barcelona, saying after the loss:
"It was like playing away today even though there were a few fans. It's a shame that such a beautiful match was played so far away because I think that if it had been played closer, the stadium would have been filled with many of our fans. It's a shame that we have to play hundreds of kilometres away from our fans and our families. For me, it makes no sense to play here in Saudi Arabia, but that's how football works today."
Foreign La Liga match scrapped
The Spanish Super Cup will take place in January just a month after Barcelona's proposed La Liga clash against Villarreal in Miami was cancelled after criticism from fans, players, coaches and pundits.
The two Spanish sides were set to make history as the fixture would have been the first time that a Primera Division match took place on foreign soil.
La Liga insisted that the plans were put in motion in order to help grow Spanish football to a new audience, though there was obviously a financial incentive also.
Both clubs were set to receive around €6 million, though the Yellow Submarine would have been compensated for a loss in ticket revenue as it is officially their home fixture.
The main criticism points to the fact the home and away balance of the season would have been skewed. The match is Villarreal's home game, but playing in Miami would have undoubtedly seen more Barcelona fans present at the match.
In the opinion of other clubs, Real Madrid in particular, that gave the Blaugrana a sporting advantage over their competitors as they effectively would have played 19 home matches even if one was in the United States.
The FootballTransfers app
Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.
The FootballTransfers app is available in the Apple App Store. Download here:
