Fans Demand Block on Barcelona and AC Milan Away Matches

European Fans Demand FIFA and UEFA Block Matches Outside Europe

Fans from over 400 supporter groups of European clubs have urged FIFA and UEFA to reject proposals from the Spanish and Italian leagues to play matches abroad. The Spanish Football Federation has approved plans for Barcelona to play against Villarreal in Miami in December. Likewise, the Italian Serie A is seeking for AC Milan to host Como in February in Perth, Australia. Before the UEFA executive committee meeting next week in Albania, the official fan liaison group, Football Supporters Europe, seeks to demonstrate the magnitude of the opposition to “out-of-territory” matches, including the support of a group of Villarreal fans.

“We urge UEFA, FIFA and all national associations to stand firm, to fulfill their role as regulators of the game and to ensure that football remains rooted in our communities, where it belongs,” stated the FSE group.

Football Supporters Europe

The FSE, backed by fan groups from 25 countries, added: “Clubs are not entertainment companies or traveling circuses. They exist for the benefit of their communities and provide a sense of belonging, where fans have attended home games for generations.” Critics of these plans, including the European Commission’s top sports official in Brussels, Glenn Micallef, argue that the sporting integrity of the leagues would be unbalanced and damaged.

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Fan groups warned that allowing Barcelona or AC Milan matches to be moved would “instantly open a Pandora’s Box with unpredictable and irreversible consequences.” The new proposals to move the national leagues abroad were inevitable after FIFA withdrew from a lawsuit last year in New York filed by the promotions agency Relevent. Relevent was co-founded by Stephen Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins, whose Hard Rock Stadium is scheduled to host the Villarreal-Barcelona match, which the clubs hope will help build their fan bases and brands globally. Barcelona has been struggling financially for several years, and Miami is also where their iconic former star Lionel Messi currently plays, for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer. Relevent is now also one of UEFA’s most important commercial partners, securing a deal this year to sell the broadcasting and sponsorship rights for six years of the Champions League and other European club competitions starting in 2027. The UEFA governing committee meets on September 11 in Tirana, chaired by its president Aleksander Ceferin. Last week, Ceferin suggested that UEFA must speak with FIFA and currently has limited legal power to stop matches abroad if the national federations involved agree with them.