The controversial change of venue for the match between Milan and Como in Australia was confirmed by the Italian Serie A on Thursday. The duel, corresponding to the 24th day of the Italian championship, will not be able to be played at San Siro, home of Milan, since the stadium will be used at the beginning of February for the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games (February 6 to 22).
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“The match between Milan and Como will be played on February 8 in Perth,” Lega Serie A president Ezio Simonelli told the Italia Uno channel, before the first semi-final of the Italian Super Cup, in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), which ended with Napoli’s 2-0 victory over the Rossoneri team.
“We had a very cordial meeting with (FIFA President Gianni) Infantino. We had some doubts about the obligations imposed on us, particularly regarding the use of foreign referees, but (FIFA Referees Committee Chairman Pierluigi) Collina gave us assurances about their qualifications,” Simonelli added.
Remember the renovations and interventions on the Maracanã lawn over the decades
The stadium will be closed again for two weeks to preserve the ground
To approve the change of venue for the match, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), to which Australia is affiliated, demanded that the match be officiated by AFC referees and not Italians.
“We will accept this condition, but we will still have other problems to resolve,” Simonelli said.
For the first time in its history, Serie A will organize one of its matches abroad. Milan’s French players Adrien Rabiot and Mike Maignan expressed their dissatisfaction with this project, which will involve a round trip, in a few days, of more than 13 thousand kilometers.
Despite the pressure, the Italian Serie A did not abandon its project, unlike the Spanish La Liga which, faced with a wave of protests, canceled the transfer of the match between Villarreal and Barcelona to Miami, in the United States, in October.
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