Spain’s football federation has approved a request for Villarreal’s home La Liga game with Barcelona to move to Miami.

The Spanish league is closer to playing a regular-season game in the United States.

The Spanish football federation on Monday approved a request for the match between Villarreal and Barcelona to be played in Miami, Florida on December 20.

The federation will now seek approval from football’s governing bodies UEFA and FIFA.

The 17th-round match in La Liga would be played at the Hard Rock Stadium, the home stadium of former Barcelona star Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.

The league first tried to stage a match in the US in 2018, but the idea was dismissed after criticism from some players, fans and clubs. Its subsequent attempts to play there also failed.

Staging a match abroad has been part of the league’s goal of promoting football and its brand in other countries. The league is in a long-term partnership with sports and entertainment group Relevent Sports, which is part of Stephen Ross’s portfolio of companies including the Hard Rock Stadium, the Miami Dolphins, Formula One’s Miami Grand Prix, and the Miami Open tennis tournament.

FIFA moved last year towards ending decades of football tradition by ordering a review of its policy that blocks domestic league games being played in other countries.

Fans are likely to object to their teams’ home matches potentially being moved thousands of miles (and kilometres) away, though it has become routine for US pro sports leagues to stage games in Europe, Asia and South America that help build their brands and fan bases.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be staged across the US, Canada and Mexico next year, while FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup has just been hosted in the US.

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England beat Sweden on penalties in the Euro 2025 quarterfinal before going on to beat Spain in the final.

England defender Jess Carter said she felt a sigh of relief when her non-Black teammates missed penalties during their shootout win over Sweden in the Women’s Euro 2025 quarterfinals, fearing Lauren James would suffer “astronomical” racist abuse if the forward had been the only player to miss her spot-kick.

England overcame a two-goal deficit to force penalties in Zurich, eventually triumphing 3-2 in a dramatic shootout that featured 14 attempts.

Sweden goalkeeper Jennifer Falk saved four England penalties, including James’ second effort. Beth Mead, Alex Greenwood and Grace Clinton, who are all white, also missed their spot-kicks for England.

“It’s horrible to say but it’s almost like a sigh of relief when other players that weren’t Black missed a penalty, because the racism that would have come with LJ (James) being the only one that missed would have been astronomical,” Carter told United Kingdom broadcaster ITN on Monday.

“It’s not because we want them to fail – it’s about knowing how it’s going to be for us (England’s Black players) if we miss.”

Carter said in July that she had been the target of online racist abuse since Euro 2025 began in Switzerland and announced that she is stepping away from social media for the duration of the tournament.

“It makes you feel really small. It makes you feel like you’re not important, that you’re not valuable,” the 27-year-old said about the effect the abuse had on her.

“It makes you second-guess everything that you do – it’s not a nice place to be. It doesn’t make me feel confident going back on to the pitch. My family was so devastated by it as well and so sad.”

England, who traditionally take a knee before matches as a gesture against racism, opted not to do so before their semifinal against Italy, following Carter’s revelations about the abuse she faced.

She also admitted to feeling fear when England manager Sarina Wiegman informed her she would be playing in the final against Spain, which England won 3-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever been scared – too scared to play,” Carter said.

“I think it was a mixture of such a big game, but then on top of that (I was) scared of whatever abuse might come with it, whether it’s football-based or whether it was going to be the racial abuse that was going to come with it because I did something wrong.”

Clinton Walsh will pack up his life and drive home to Sydney on Tuesday with two completed degrees, a lifetime of memories – and some pretty nasty blisters.

Few students have crammed more into their time at Bond University than Walsh, and he lived that mantra right to the very end.

On Friday, on the eve of his final exam block, Walsh competed in the Clint Eastwood Last Man Standing Backyard Ultra Marathon. 

By Monday evening, after his last exam, the 22-year-old will have wrapped up 11 semesters to complete a Law and Actuarial Science double degree – a unique pairing he chose because he “didn’t know what I wanted to do” and wanted to keep both maths and law doors open.

“I quite enjoyed the balance of having two subjects from each degree every semester,” Walsh said.

“My marks were pretty much the same in both, they worked in sync. I’m still figuring out how to combine them in my career.”

In January, he’ll start that career in Sydney with a graduate role at King & Wood Mallesons. 

But first comes a well-earned two-month European holiday with his partner, Bond alumna Dayna Fewings, who is now the strength and conditioning coach for the Bull Sharks AFLW side.

Busy is an understatement  

Over his three and a half years at Bond, Walsh has been everywhere. 

He was Vice President (Sport) of the Bond University Student Association where he was a key driver in the university’s return to the UniSport Indigenous Nationals in 2023 after a nine-year absence. He coached the squad that year and returned in 2025 to once again lead Bond, this time in Perth. 

He was also a founding member of the spike ball club, and an enthusiastic regular in water polo, touch football and netball.

He’s also tutored Indigenous students through the Nyombil Centre and served as UniSport advisor.

Somewhere in there, he found time to take up running, completing 75km for the 2024 Movember Challenge – 10km every four hours – to raise funds for men’s mental health.

The backyard ultra

Running wasn’t supposed to be a long-term thing. But when a friend asked him to join her in the Clint Eastwood Backyard Ultra last week, he said yes.

The format is simple and brutal: a 6.706km trail loop every hour, on the hour – kind of like a long-distance beep test.  Miss the start of your next lap and you’re out. The last runner standing has to complete one more lap solo to win.

“She talked me into it and I registered about a week ago,” Walsh said.

He completed 11 laps (73.7km) to finish 88th. The winner lasted 43 laps.

“I averaged a 10-minute break at the end of each lap, but by the end my slowest break was five minutes,” he said.

“It’s pretty crap mentally because you go over the same ground twice every lap. But the overall experience was really good. 

“I had a fun time, but I definitely wouldn’t say I’m a runner for life. I don’t think ultra marathons are going to be my thing.” 

From blisters to bikes?

However, now he has decided to settle in Sydney, another endurance sport might be.

Walsh’s father Andrew and brother Elliott are avid cyclists and have their eyes on recruiting him for the Peaks Challenge in March – a 235km ride set across three of the Victorian high country’s most famous climbs: Tawonga Gap, Mount Hotham and Falls Creek.

The race, designed to imitate a stage of the Tour de France, includes 4000m of elevation and must be completed within 13 hours.

“My brother and dad are trying to get me to do it,” Walsh said. 

“So, it looks like I’m going to become a rider. I don’t even have a bike yet, so I’ll have to get one when I get home.”

Bondies at the ultra

Walsh wasn’t the only Bond face at the Backyard Ultra.

Dr Jane Hunt from the Faculty of Society & Design – President of the Australian Society for Sport History, veteran triathlete and author of Multisport Dreaming: The Foundations of Triathlon in Australia – clocked 16 laps (107.2km), finishing as 11th woman and 30^th overall.