In a significant setback for international football expansion, plans to stage a historic Serie A match between AC Milan and Como in Australia this February have been formally abandoned. The Italian league and local Australian organizers issued a joint statement confirming the cancellation, citing insurmountable logistical challenges.
Serie A president Ezio Simonelli revealed that the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) presented unexpected and “unacceptable requests” that ultimately made the overseas fixture impossible to organize. The match was initially conceived as a strategic solution when AC Milan’s iconic San Siro stadium becomes unavailable due to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony preparations.
This cancellation represents a missed opportunity for European football, as it would have marked the first time a domestic match from one of Europe’s top five leagues was played outside the continent. The irony lies in the geographical proximity of the two clubs—Milan and Como are situated less than an hour apart in Northern Italy, yet their scheduled February 8th encounter now requires alternative domestic arrangements.
This development follows a similar pattern in Spanish football, where La Liga’s planned Barcelona-Villarreal match in Miami was canceled last October following substantial protests from players and supporters in Spain. The consecutive failures of these international initiatives raise serious questions about the feasibility of exporting domestic football matches across continents, highlighting the complex regulatory, logistical, and cultural barriers that remain unresolved in global football governance.