Lega Serie A, Italian club soccer’s top competition body, has described comments denouncing its plans to stage a regular-season match between AC Milan and Como in Australia next year – made by the European Union's Sports Commissioner – as “excessive,” saying the fixture will promote the league globally.
Last month, Italy’s FIGC governing body approved a request for heavyweights AC Milan to play their home match against Como in Perth, Australia, given the fixture – part of the top-tier Serie A 2025-26 season – clashes with Northern Italy staging the 2026 Winter Olympics, and specifically Milan’s San Siro stadium hosting the opening ceremony on the same weekend (February 6).
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
In terms of other European leagues going down a similar route, Spanish clubs Villareal and heavyweights Barcelona have since proposed staging a regular-season LaLiga match in the American city of Miami in December, a proposal which Spanish soccer's RFEF has approved.
Responding to the Perth proposals, however, EU Sports Commissioner Glenn Micallef yesterday described the moves as “a betrayal of the fans.”
Using social media platform X, Micallef wrote: “I’m deeply disappointed by proposals to stage domestic league matches outside Europe.
“To me, it’s clear: European competitions must be played in Europe. European football must stay in Europe.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData“I believe that clubs owe most of their success to their loyal fans and local communities … moving competitions abroad isn’t innovation, it’s betrayal.”
Responding to that post in turn, Serie A has said Micallef’s comments “underestimate the complexity and strategic value of initiatives aimed at promoting Italian football on a global scale.”
The league highlighted North America’s NBA (basketball) and NFL (American football) as examples of leagues that play regular-season matches overseas as part of their international growth strategies.
Serie A added: “To speak of betrayal for a single match, out of a total of 380 Serie A matches, seems an excessive position, which risks fueling a populist debate, far from a constructive and modern vision of sport.
“Taking a match abroad does not mean exporting the championship, but rather introducing new audiences to the excellence of Italian football, strengthening the competitiveness of the system and generating resources that have a positive impact on the entire movement, including at youth and amateur level, in return for a small sacrifice required of the Milan and Como fans, who will nevertheless benefit in terms of increased visibility and popularity worldwide.
“Serie A will continue to work to combine local roots with international openness, fully aware of its role in promoting Italian football.”
While the move has now been greenlit by the FIGC, it is still 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).
While current FIFA rules do not allow domestic league matches to be played abroad, the governing body set up a working group to investigate the issue last year – this has been taken as a sign that this will happen sooner rather than later.
Staging occasional league matches overseas would open a lucrative revenue stream, especially for top European clubs, but the relevent governing bodies have to balance the commercial opportunity with ensuring it does not chip away at traditional values based on local support.
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 AC Milan-Como 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.
Most prominently in terms of its APAC presence, 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, 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.
That city first hosted AC Milan’s loss to Inter Milan in a one-off match in January 2023 before the competition changed to a four-game format for the 2024 edition. This year’s edition saw AC Milan beat Inter Milan in the final, in January.
