UEFA ‘reluctantly’ approves European league games in US, Australia

LAUSANNE: European football governing body UEFA on Monday said it had “reluctantly” approved the staging of a Spanish La Liga and an Italian Serie A match in the US and Australia respectively 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 made its ruling after Spain’s La Liga agreed to move a game scheduled for late December between champions Barcelona and Villarreal to Miami, Florida.

Italy’s Serie A also decided to stage the encounter between AC Milan and Como on February 8 in Perth, Australia, to avoid a clash with the Winter Olympics opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro stadium.

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.

NFL, NBA precedent

While the idea of relocating European football matches to other continents seems shocking to many, other sports — particularly US ones — have been doing something similar for years, even decades.

The NFL has held games