Plans for Serie A match in Australia scrapped

The plan to relocate the Italian league match between AC Milan and Como to Perth, Australia, in early February has been cancelled, organisers announced Monday, following criticism of the project.

“Plans for Perth to host the first-ever European league fixture played outside its national borders are off by mutual agreement,” Italy’s Serie A and the government of Western Australia said in a joint statement.

“Both parties have come to this decision due to financial risks that could not be mitigated, onerous approval conditions, and last-minute complications beyond their control.”

The match was due to be held in Perth on February 8. Milan’s San Siro stadium is out of commission on that date because it is hosting the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics two days earlier.

Serie A boss Ezio Simonelli blamed requests made by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for leading to the cancellation of the match, which was set to be the first in Serie A played outside Italy.

“Due to an escalation of further unacceptable demands made in the last few hours by the AFC… it has become impossible to play the Milan-Como match in Perth on 8th February,” he said.

The proposed relocation, involving a round trip of over 13,000 kilometres (8,078 miles), had come under attack from Milan’s France internationals Adrien Rabiot and Mike Maignan.

The decision comes two months after Spain’s La Liga shelved plans to hold a Barcelona match in Miami in the United States due to “uncertainty” about the game within Spain.