Serie A’s plan to host a match in Australia could be the next attempt at staging a domestic fixture abroad to be scrapped, following the abandonment of La Liga’s efforts to move Barcelona’s game against Villarreal to Miami.
The Guardian understands there are serious doubts over whether Milan and Como will face each other in Perth, rather than their home country, in a game scheduled for February. This month Uefa approved both switches, emphasising permission had been granted on an exceptional basis. Now senior figures within European football’s governing body feel that the probability of Serie A breaking precedent and playing a game 8,500 miles from home is also receding.
Permission is still required from the Asian Football Confederation, Football Australia and Fifa before Serie A can finalise the highly controversial move. Sources with knowledge of the process believe that the AFC is coming under significant external pressure not to sanction the game. Two weeks ago the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, called the staging of league games on other continents a “big risk”.
The decision to scrap La Liga’s decampment to Miami, which had been pencilled in for December, was made by the match promoter Relevent Sports a day before tickets went on sale. La Liga said this was because of “the current uncertainty in Spain”, where in a protest from the Spanish footballers’ union (AFE) at the weekend the first 15 seconds of every top‑flight game were not played. Two complaints by Real Madrid, who have strongly opposed the move, to Spain’s Higher Sports Council complicated the picture further.
Relevent is understood to have held discussions with Uefa, Fifa and the north American governing body Concacaf before pulling the plug. Talks with Uefa in recent days carried particular weight given Relevent this year was awarded the global commercial rights to its club competitions for the 2027‑33 cycle. It is new to the European football market and both parties ultimately agreed that, given the level of consternation around the match in Miami, such a high‑profile controversy would set the wrong tone for their partnership. The game’s postponement could mean Relevent incurs financial losses.
Relevent has no involvement in the Serie A fixture. The growing pressure on that game’s viability follows criticism from the Milan midfielder Adrien Rabiot, who recently called it “crazy” and “absurd”. A statement from Como this month said expanding Serie A’s horizons was essential “for the survival of the league itself”.
There is cautious optimism in European football’s corridors of power that the spectre of domestic games abroad may be headed off for the foreseeable future. But La Liga’s president, Javier Tebas, vowed to continue with his quest to conquer the US in a lengthy lament on his X account, saying: “Spanish football deserves to look towards the future with ambition, not fear. We will keep trying. This time we were close.”
Fifa is yet to comment on the cancellation but is understood to be relieved that the controversial matter has been put on hold for now, without a precedent being set. As the Guardian reported this month, the world governing body has begun work on redrafting its regulations pertaining to so-called international matches and is seeking legal advice over whether it can ban them outright.
Under the existing rules Fifa can block an international match only if the correct processes are not followed, with the decision-making power resting with the relevant national associations and confederations. Fifa is hopeful of being able to update its regulations at the start of next year.
The Premier League is also privately delighted about the delay, as it strongly opposes league games being moved to overseas territories following the criticism it received as a result of the former executive chairman Richard Scudamore’s 39th game proposal in 2008. The FA and other leading European associations, particularly Germany’s DFB, are also against the innovation and have made their views known to Uefa.
Serie A was also approached for comment.
