UEFA will reluctantly not oppose the tradition-busting plans for Barcelona to play a league game in Miami and for AC Milan to feature in Australia, the European soccer body said on Monday.
Amid fierce opposition from fan groups across the continent, UEFA consent was a key step for La Liga’s plan to stage Villarreal vs. Barcelona in Miami on Dec. 20 and Serie A’s AC Milan vs. Como in Perth in February.
UEFA blamed a lack of clear rules from world soccer body FIFA to block the proposed games, which many fans see as a threat to cut teams’ ties to their home communities.
“While it is regrettable to have to let these two games go ahead, this decision is exceptional and shall not be seen as setting a precedent,” UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said in a statement.
UEFA said it will “actively contribute to the ongoing work led by FIFA to ensure that future rules uphold the integrity of domestic competitions and the close bond between clubs, their supporters and local communities.”
The Football Supporters Europe network of fan groups said it will continue working to stop the games abroad going ahead, which it believes also unbalances the sporting integrity of domestic leagues.
“By forcing through these matches, La Liga and Serie A risk undermining their own history and long-term success while inflicting long-lasting harm to football in Europe — and beyond,” said FSE, which is recognized by UEFA as its official liaison partner on fan issues.
The Spanish and Italian leagues were long seen as most likely to push for so-called “out of territory” games, as they seek to counter the global popularity and financial power of England’s Premier League.
Relevent’s role
La Liga and its American commercial partner Relevent, an agency co-founded by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, had tried to place a Barcelona game in Florida since 2018 but were blocked by FIFA rules.
Fresh plans were inevitable 18 months ago when FIFA withdrew from a legal action brought by Relevent in a Manhattan court. Weeks later, FIFA said it would review its rules and created a working group that includes UEFA lawyers.
Relevent has since become a key commercial partner of UEFA and the influential European Club Association, being entrusted this year to sell six years’ worth of commercial rights for the Champions League and other continental competitions through 2033.
Barcelona should now be placed by Relevent to play in the city where its iconic former star Lionel Messi has moved to play for Inter Miami.
The Dec. 20 game at Hard Rock Stadium would nominally be a home one for Villarreal, which is playing in the Champions League this season. The clash is sure to attract an overwhelming majority of fans wanting to see Barcelona.
Barcelona’s financial struggles since before Messi left the club in 2021, initially to Paris Saint-Germain for two seasons, have deepened and a game in Miami is an opportunity to develop its fan base and brand.
Games abroad for those reasons have become routine in U.S. pro sports leagues — with the latest NFL games in Dublin last week and London on Sunday — but still jar with European soccer culture which thrives on tribal rivalries and fans of visiting teams being in the stadium.
Germany’s Bundesliga has said it has no plans to take games abroad and would surely face a strong backlash from fan groups if it tried.
Milan’s Olympic effect
The Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics, which opens Feb. 6, gave the Italian league an opening to seek to go abroad.
The opening ceremony is in the storied San Siro stadium shared by AC Milan and Inter Milan, and the league scheduled Milan’s home game against near-neighbor Como on Feb. 8, when the venue would not be ready for soccer.
Milan, a seven-time European champion which failed to qualify for this season’s Champions League, has been a popular visitor with the Italian diaspora in Australia on previous trips there.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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