Serie A cancel planned AC Milan vs. Como match scheduled to take place in Perth, Australia

The Serie A game was supposed to be played in Perth at the beginning of February, the first Serie A match to be played outside Italy

The Italian Serie A has announced that AC Milan vs. Como won't take place in Perth, Australia, at the beginning of February. Despite league president Ezio Simonelli's earlier announcement, made ahead of the Supercoppa Italiana semifinal between Napoli and the Rossoneri, that the match would go ahead, the Italian league issued a joint statement on Monday confirming that it will not take place in Perth.

"Plans for Perth to host the first ever official European league match for points outside its national borders are off, following the mutual agreement of Lega Calcio Serie A and the Western Australian Government. Both parties have come to this decision due to financial risks that could not be mitigated, onerous approval conditions, and last-minute complications beyond their control," they said. 

The decision is quite surprising especially after the quotes of Simonelli last week but it also followed what happened in Spain. LaLiga was planning to play the fixture between Villarreal and Barcelona that took place over the past weekend in Miami, but after the players and the other teams decided to protest against this idea, the game scheduled in the United States was called off. The Italian Serie A was working to play the match between AC Milan and Como abroad in part because the Rossoneri won't be able to host the match against the team coached by Cesc Fabregas on February 8, as San Siro will host the opening ceremony of the 2026 Olympics in Milan. The fixture secured the approval of all 20 Lega Calcio Serie A clubs, the Italian FA and the UEFA. 

"The onerous conditions from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to sanction the fixture could not be implemented without financial risks to the Western Australian Government and Serie A that could not be mitigated. The Government and Lega Calcio Serie A exhausted every viable option to bring the historic fixture to Western Australia. Analysis of Perth's bid shows it has already generated more than $280 million in global media exposure since April, with Perth discussed widely across major international outlets in USA, UK, Italy, Indonesia, and France. The proposed match would have been the first time a top-tier European league game for points was played outside its national borders, presenting a unique opportunity for Western Australia to make international football history," the statement said. 

Ezio Simonelli, Serie A president, said, "While expressing disappointment at the outcome of this project, we remain firmly convinced that this conclusion is a missed opportunity in the growth of Italian football at an international level, which also deprives the many Serie A fans abroad of the dream of attending a match of their favourite team in person".