UEFA Reluctantly Approves Historic Overseas Matches For LaLiga and Serie A Clubs

‎UEFA said on Monday that it had reluctantly approved staging a La Liga match in the United States and a Serie A match in Australia, despite fan protests.

‎”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 issued its ruling following Spain’s LaLiga decision to relocate a late-December fixture between Barcelona and Villarreal to Miami, Florida. The move marked LaLiga’s first attempt to stage a competitive match outside Europe.

‎Similarly, Italy’s Serie A announced that AC Milan’s clash with Como will be played in Perth, Australia, on February 8th to avoid conflicting with the Winter Olympics opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro.

‎But that sparked protests from European supporters groups who branded the moves “absurd, unaffordable, and environmentally irresponsible”.

‎In its statement, UEFA said that it had “reiterated its clear opposition to domestic league matches being played outside their home country”.

‎But despite “the widespread lack of support that had already been raised by fans, other leagues, clubs, players and European institutions”, UEFA said that it had found no clear regulatory framework in FIFA’s statutes that would allow it to oppose the moves.

‎”The UEFA Executive Committee has reluctantly taken the decision to approve, on an exceptional basis, the two requests referred to it,” European football’s governing body said in its statement.