Plans for Italian soccer’s Serie A to stage Europe’s first major domestic league fixture outside a home country have taken a step forward after Italy’s FIGC governing body approved a request for Milan to play its home match against Como in Perth, Australia.
The fixture, part of the top-tier Serie A’s 2025-26 season, is scheduled for February 6, which clashes with the country staging the 2026 Winter Olympics, and specifically Milan’s San Siro stadium hosting the opening ceremony on the same weekend.
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In a statement, the FIGC said: “The federal council gave a positive opinion to the Lega Serie A request to play Milan-Como in Perth.
“This brings closer what would be a historic trip abroad for a Serie A match.”
Milan have a close relationship with Perth, having played an end-of-season friendly against Roma last year. They are also due to play Perth Glory in a pre-season friendly on July 31 at the 32,000-seater HBF Stadium.
Optus Stadium, Perth's 60,000-seat facility used for high-profile Australian football, rugby, cricket, and soccer matches, has been touted as a possible venue to host the fixture. Last month, the stadium staged the 2026 FIFA World Cup AFC Asian Qualifier match between Australia's Socceroos and Japan.
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By GlobalDataWhile the move has been greenlit by the FIGC, it is far from confirmed. The relocation still requires approval from several other soccer governing bodies, including Football Australia and world governing body FIFA, as well as continental governing bodies UEFA (Europe) and the AFC (Asia).
Current FIFA rules do not allow domestic league matches to be played abroad. However, the governing body set up a working group to investigate the issue last year, in what has been taken as a sign that this will happen sooner rather than later.
Staging occasional league matches overseas would open up a lucrative revenue stream, especially for top European clubs, but the governing bodies have to balance the commercial opportunity with ensuring it does not chip away at traditional values based on local support.
Spanish giants Barcelona have been leading the calls to allow league fixtures to be played overseas, first announcing plans to stage a league match against Girona in Miami, Florida, in 2019. The move was knocked back by the country’s RFEF soccer governing body and its players’ union.
The club was then included in LaLiga’s plans to stage a match alongside Atletico Madrid, also in Miami, last year. However, those plans were also dropped due to scheduling issues.
If it goes ahead, the fixture will give Serie A some much-needed exposure in the Asia-Pacific region as it looks to boost its international profile and compete with the English Premier League, Spain’s LaLiga, and Germany’s Bundesliga for fans in the relatively untapped market.
Serie A was shown live in Australia last season by international sports broadcaster BeIN.
It will not be the first time Italian top-tier men's soccer has staged official matches overseas, however, having secured a lucrative contract with Saudi Arabia to host its Supercoppa Italiana, the annual clash between winners of Serie A and Coppa Italia domestic cup competition, in the kingdom’s capital, Riyadh, for the last three seasons.
The capital first hosted AC Milan’s loss to Inter Milan in a one-off match in January 2023 before changing to a four-game format for the 2024 edition. This year’s edition saw AC Milan beat Inter Milan in January.
