The West Australian government remains adamant that Perth will host a Serie A match between AC Milan and Como next year, despite the cancellation of a planned fixture between Barcelona and Villarreal in the United States.
With the San Siro set to be unavailable due to the Winter Olympics, Italy’s football federation (FIGC) gave the green light for the Rossoneri to stage its Feb. 6 clash with Como in Perth in July, describing the opportunity to bring a Serie A fixture to Australia as “historic.”
UEFA “reluctantly” gave its approval for the fixture, as well as a LaLiga game between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami, earlier this month. However, following widespread backlash in Spain, LaLiga announced on Tuesday that it had cancelled its planned fixture, citing the “uncertainty” generated by the protests.
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No such announcement, though, has been made on Serie A’s attempts to bring a game Down Under, and the West Australian government remains confident that the game will go ahead as planned.
“The WA Government is committed to bringing Serie A to Australia for the first time and we’re confident in the support shown by Football Australia, both teams and Serie A to date, as we await sign off from the AFC and FIFA to make this a reality,” Rita Saffioti, who serves as West Australia’s deputy premier in addition to being its minister for sport and recreation, told ESPN in a statement.
“Following the success of AC Milan’s recent visit to Perth for their preseason, we saw how successful the friendlies were for AC Milan and AS Roma, and we know that European football has a huge following in WA.”
While UEFA has given its approval for the fixture to proceed, it also requires the assent of FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation, of which Australia is a member, and local federation Football Australia, before it can be officially approved and contracts signed.
Speaking to West Australian media on Wednesday morning, Saffioti, who flew to Italy to help seal the deal to bring a game to Perth, indicated that she believed those approvals to be imminent.
“We’ve had some very supportive comments [on Tuesday] from the Italian league, so we’re very confident,” she said. “Every hour I’m checking my phone, or basically every 10 minutes I’m checking my phone.
“It should happen in the next week, next few days, but that’s why we’re waiting.”
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Milan has twice previously toured West Australia in recent years, playing a friendly with Roma in 2024 and local A-League Men outfit Perth Glory earlier this year.
These visits have been part of a significant investment by the West Australian government in sport and major events. Perth is set to be one of the three host cities for next year’s Women’s Asian Cup, it will stage the return of State of Origin in the AFL, and is partnering with TKO to bring multiple UFC and WWE events to the city.
But the plan to host a Serie A game, something Como has declared is about “ensuring survival” for Serie A, has been controversial with Milan midfielder Adrien Rabiot labelling the move “completely crazy.”
Football Supporters Association Australia has joined opposition to the game with Football Supporters Europe, declaring “domestic league fixtures are intrinsically linked to their home territories” and raising concerns over its potential impact on the local A-League Men’s and Women’s competitions.
