AFC cops the blame as Serie A game in Perth scrapped
Glenn Moore and Justin Chadwick |
The controversial switch of an Italian league soccer match from Milan to Perth has been scrapped, with the Western Australia government revealing even the mention of ‘Serie A’ could have landed it in hot water.
In a joint statement, the WA government and Serie A organisers blamed the cancellation on “onerous conditions” imposed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the sport’s regional governing body.
Perth had been slated to host a Serie A match between seven-time European champions AC Milan and Como in February.
The opportunity arose given AC Milan’s home stadium, the San Siro, is unavailable since it’s being used for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
Perth was chosen in part because of the large Italian diaspora in Australia, highlighted when a friendly between Milan and Roma at Optus Stadium in 2024 drew 56,522 fans.
The match would have been the first time a top-tier European league game for points was played outside the continent.
But in a joint statement between the WA Government and Serie A, both parties said the concept had to be scrapped “due to financial risks that could not be mitigated, onerous approval conditions, and last-minute complications beyond their control”.
WA Sport and Recreation Minister Rita Saffioti fronted the media on Tuesday to provide more insight into the reasons why the concept had to be shelved.
“There was a call for us, the State government, to mitigate and indemnify AFC through Football Australia,” Saffioti said.
“AFC put conditions on the game, including that it couldn’t be … called a Serie A game, and the referees would have to be from the AFC.
“On top of that, they said if any of these conditions aren’t met, then Football Australia would be liable, which could include financial penalties or even penalties against our national teams.
“We sought to mitigate these risks and sought to remove the indemnity and have it covered on a number of fronts. We just could not get that indemnity excluded.
“For example, if someone mistakenly put Serie A in relation to the game, then there would be opportunity for AFC to pursue Football Australia, who had asked us to indemnify.”
Saffioti said her Government did everything possible to get the game across the line, but “football politics, legal issues and bureaucracy have got in the way”.
“The game itself absolutely stacked up in relation to visitation and global media exposure,” she said.
“But the relevant sanction threats and the conditions made it impossible to navigate.
“Importantly, no payments were made, nor has WA lost out through this process, as no agreement was reached.”
As recently as last Thursday, Lega Calcio Serie A President Ezio Simonelli insisted the match would go ahead despite new conditions including the AFC insisting they appoint the match officials.
“Due to an escalation of further unacceptable demands made in the last few hours by the AFC to the Australian Football Federation and, consequently, to the Government of Western Australia and the Lega Calcio Serie A, it has become impossible to play the Milan-Como match in Perth,” said Simonelli on Monday (early Tuesday morning AEDT).
The Serie A cancellation comes two months after LaLiga called off plans to play a league match between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami after criticism and opposition within Spain.
Italian media on Tuesday said the San Siro was likely to host the game after all.
It will have to be moved to a midweek date, with Wednesday February 17 likely – unless AC Milan’s co-tenants Inter Milan are in Champions League home play-off action that day. February 24 would then be the date.
With agencies
AAP
