AC Milan vs Como relocates to Perth: Serie A takes its grand away-game abroad

Update

On Thursday, Italy's Serie A confirmed it would move the Milan-Como match to Australia, two months after Spain canceled a similar plan in the United States earlier.

Serie A chief Itsio Simonielli announced on Italy Uno channel, during the Italian Super Cup semifinal between Milan and Napoli in Riyadh, that the Milan-Como match will be staged in Perth on February 8.

And we held a cordial meeting with FIFA president Gianni Infantino. We had concerns about obligations, especially foreign referees, but FIFA's referees chief Pierluigi Collina assured us of the quality of officiating for the match.

And the Asian Football Confederation, to which Australia belongs, conditioned approval for the move on referees under its authority, not Italian referees for the match.

And Simonielli said we accept this condition, but marketing issues remain to be settled.

And for the first time, Serie A will host a match outside Italy.

And this move stems from the fact the 24th round cannot be played at San Siro, Milan's stadium, as it will host the Winter Games opening ceremony in Milan-Cortina (Feb 6-22, 2026) causing organizers to shift the venue.

And the two Milan French players, Adrien Rabiot and Mike Maignan, expressed displeasure at the plan forcing them to travel over 13,000 kilometers in a few days, far from Italy's economic capital.

And despite pressure, Italy's league did not back down, unlike Spain's league which canceled in October the Villarreal–Barcelona move to Miami after widespread protests amid public backlash from critics.

Implications

Punchline: The travel budget just filed for overtime.

Punchline: Football went global; now the whistle packs sunscreen.