Australian remain confident their hosting of a Serie A fixture will go ahead despite La Liga u-turning on their plan to host a game in Miami amid huge backlash
The Western Australian government is adamant that the Serie A fixture between AC Milan and Como will take place next year despite seeing La Liga back out of their planned game in Miami following huge backlash.
UEFA “reluctantly” gave its approval for the Italian fixture, as well as the La Liga game between Barcelona and Villarreal in Florida, earlier this month. But whilst Spain’s top flight has chosen to reverse its decision to take a domestic game abroad, those in Australia are convinced Italy won’t follow suit.
The San Siro is due to be unavailable due to the Winter Olympics and Italy’s football federation (FIGC) gave the green light for the Rossoneri to stage the game on February 6 in Perth in July. Those in Australia have labelled the opportunity as “historic.”
Rita Saffioti, who serves as West Australia’s deputy premier in addition to being its minister for sport and recreation, told ESPN in a statement: “The WA Government is committed to bringing Serie A to Australia for the first time and we’re confident in the support shown by Football Australia, both teams and Serie A to date, as we await sign off from the AFC and FIFA to make this a reality.
“Following the success of AC Milan’s recent visit to Perth for their preseason, we saw how successful the friendlies were for AC Milan and AS Roma, and we know that European football has a huge following in WA.”
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La Liga confirmed on Tuesday that it had cancelled its planned fixture, citing the “uncertainty” generated by the protests. Last weekend every game saw the players stand still for the first 15 seconds as they expressed their anger at having a game taken overseas.
UEFA has given its approval for the fixture to proceed, but it also requires the backing of FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation, of which Australia is a member, and local federation Football Australia, before it can be officially approved and contracts signed.
Saffioti flew to Italy to help seal the deal to bring a game to Perth and made it clear that the confirmation is imminent when she addressed West Australian media on Wednesday.
She said: “We’ve had some very supportive comments [on Tuesday] from the Italian league, so we’re very confident,” she said. “Every hour I’m checking my phone, or basically every 10 minutes I’m checking my phone. It should happen in the next week, next few days, but that’s why we’re waiting.”
Como has claimed that taking a Serie A game overseas is about “ensuring survival” for the league as they seek to generate more interest and finances.
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Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
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