Fifa has begun redrafting its regulations on staging domestic league games in foreign countries and is seeking legal advice over whether it can ban them. World football’s governing body would like to outlaw the practice but will be guided by legal opinion in its first review of the relevant regulations for 11 years.
A source involved in the process said Fifa was working towards making its rulebook more robust with a view to new regulations being ready early next year. This week Uefa blamed the “relevant Fifa regulatory framework” for its decision to allow Villarreal v Barcelona to take place in Miami in December and Milan v Como to go ahead in Perth in February. That is understood to have caused considerable irritation at Fifa because under existing regulations it is not their decision to make.
The regulations were written in 2014, when domestic leagues moving matches to overseas territories was not regarded as a live issue after the collapse of Premier League plans for a 39th game in 2008. The then Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore’s proposal for an “international round” was ahead of its time, but fans were outraged and it was not pursued elsewhere.
Fifa can block what its rulebook refers to as an “international match” only if the correct processes are not followed. The rules state that such matches must be authorised by the football associations of the participating clubs and of the territory where a game is to be played and by the respective confederations.
La Liga and Serie A gave their approval at the start of the season before passing the matter to Uefa, which provided its ruling this week. The issue now rests with the host FAs – the US Soccer Federation and Football Australia – and their respective confederations, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation.
La Liga has scheduled Villarreal v Barcelona for Inter Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium but US Soccer’s approval is not guaranteed because there are concerns that Major League Soccer would suffer commercially if European and possibly Mexican league games could also be staged in the country.
Fifa is working towards its regulations being more clearcut despite concerns over its legal position. The US-based promoter Relevent Sports brought an anti-trust lawsuit against US Soccer in 2019 after a request for Barcelona to play Girona in Miami was denied the previous year, with Fifa named as co-defendants.
Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, said this week it would be a “big risk” for football to permit a global free-for-all. Fifa declined to comment.
