Spanish players’ protest over La Liga game in U.S. ruled ‘freedom of expression’, not illegal

Spain’s National Court has rejected La Liga’s lawsuit to declare a 15-second protest by players earlier this season — relating to the league’s plans to stage a match abroad — as illegal.On Tuesday, Spain’s National Court said the players’ protest — which came after a first-of-its-kind proposal to stage the Villarreal vs. Barcelona La Liga match in Miami, Florida — “did not constitute a strike” and was instead an “exercise of their right to freedom of expression”, which was in conjunction with the right to freedom of association.Advertisement