It is official: AC Milan and Como will travel to Perth, Australia, to play a football match on February 8. Despite mounting pressure and a series of conditions from the Asian Football Confederation, Serie A president Ezio Maria Simoncelli confirmed to Mediaset in Riyadh, before the Italian Super Cup, that the match will be played in Perth as planned, following "a cordial meeting with (Gianni) Infantino", FIFA president.
A week ago, reports that the match might be cancelled surfaced, due to "impractical" conditions by the AFC, like forcingforbidding Italian referees, and instead using Asian officials. "I spoke with (Pierluigi) Collina, who gave me ample assurances about the Asian referees, providing me with some high-calibre names" (Simoncelli said, referring to the chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee). "This condition was the most difficult, but we will accept it. There are other issues that we will resolve in the coming days. The referees will be Asian."
This match was announced in Australia due to San Siro, Milan's stadium, being unavailable, as it will be the venue for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in February 2026. It will become the first match from an European football league to be played abroad.
A similar case happened in Spain with a proposed match between Villarreal and FC Barcelona, which was set to be played in Miami. That decision, however, was purely commercial, pushed by LaLiga president, and did not respond to any necessity like the unavailability of a stadium. It was later cancelled after the promoter turned back due to the backlash from fans, and the match will be played in Villarreal as usual this Sunday December 21.