Milan–Como will be allowed to take place in Australia. After the FIGC’s approval, UEFA also gave the green light this afternoon. Formally, FIFA’s approval is still required, but the European confederation was the one with the strongest doubts about playing national league matches abroad. Instead, thanks also to decisive mediation in Italy by Gabriele Gravina (FIGC president and UEFA first vice-president), Nyon gave its approval. Both Milan–Como, scheduled for February 8 in Perth, and Villarreal–Barcelona, set to be played in Miami in December, received the go-ahead.
The main reason for the approval is tied to the exceptional nature of the event. In Serie A’s case, San Siro will be unavailable at that time due to the Winter Olympics. Formally, the authorization was possible because of a regulatory gap. Under the current rules, which FIFA working groups are reviewing, UEFA had no grounds to deny this request. For this reason, along with the approval came an instruction to change the regulations.
In particular, in its report to the UEFA Executive Committee, the administration restated the principle that league matches should normally be played on national territory, and that any exceptions must be transparent and based on clear requirements and voting procedures (such as the approval of a majority within the relevant national league). At the same time, UEFA’s administration tasked the Executive Committee not only with approving the two matches but also with informing FIFA, through the relevant working group, to take these principles into account when drafting new regulations on the matter, as reported by Tuttomercatoweb.com.
