Plans by Spain's top flight soccer league to hold regular season games in the U.S. are under threat.
AFE, a union representing Spanish soccer players, refused this week to rule out strike action at a meeting in Madrid attended by senior players, including Barcelona's Sergio Busquets and Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, from each of La Liga's 20 clubs.
La Liga announced last week a partnership with multinational media, sports and entertainment group Relevent Sports and plans to play Spanish fixtures in the U.S.
The players at the AFE meeting unanimously opposed the proposal.
Relevent was founded by Stephen Ross, who owns the Miami Dolphins NFL team. The firm is also responsible for the annual pre-season International Champions Cup soccer tournament that features top European sides playing at stadiums across North America.
Details remain vague since the announcement, but the reaction by the teams has been far from positive. La Liga has not given details on when the first match in the U.S. will take place, how many games per season would be involved, how they would be selected or whether it would compensate the loss of home advantage for teams involved.
"The captains are surprised and angry that such an important decision was taken without being consulted. The players are unanimously against this, no-one is in favour of it," AFE President David Aganzo told a news conference. "There are some clubs that are in favor and others that are against it, but I'm speaking on behalf of the footballers."
Aganzo, who became head of the union this year when Luis Rubiales left the role to become president of the Spanish Football Federation, did not rule out organizing a players' strike if their concerns are not heard.
"I will state very clearly that we will do everything possible to avoid this," he said.
A La Liga spokesperson said the organizing body "will meet with AFE in the appropriate forum to discuss the plans."
The spokesperson also pointed to comments made by La Liga President Javier Tebas at last week's announcement. Tebas said: "If we play one game in another country, we'll go hand-in-hand with the clubs and institutions. La Liga excites millions of fans around the world. Let's build bridges and grow while transmitting the values of football and of our country."
The players have said they will meet again in September to discuss what progress has been made.