The proposal caused a lot of controversy. Many supporters and players, including AC Milan Frenchman Adrien Rabiot, who considered the project “totally crazy”, were opposed to the relocation to Australia of the Italian Football Championship match between the Milan team and Como scheduled for early February. They were heard.
The relocation was canceled, the organizers announced on Monday after criticism of the project. “The project to organize in Perth the very first match of a European championship outside the borders has been abandoned by mutual agreement,” announced the Lega Serie A and the Western Australian authorities in a press release.
“Both parties took this decision due to uncontrolled financial risks, onerous approval conditions and last-minute complications beyond their control,” they added without indicating where the meeting would be played.
This match counting for the 24th day of the championship cannot take place at San Siro, the AC Milan stadium which will be used at the beginning of February for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Milan Cortina (from February 6 to 22, 2026).
“Despite scrupulous and rigorous compliance with the complex authorization process, which lasted several months (…) it became impossible to play the Milan – Como match in Perth on February 8,” reacted Lega Serie A boss Ezio Simonelli.
The French internationals of AC Milan Adrien Rabiot and Mike Maignan had expressed their incomprehension at this project which was to require them to return in the space of a few days to more than 13,000 kilometers from the economic capital of Italy.
In October, the Spanish Liga had already canceled a similar project for the match between Villarreal and FC Barcelona which was to be played in Miami in the United States.
