Uefa President Aleksander Čeferin has spoken out against plans by the Spanish and Italian football leagues to play league games outside of Europe.
“We will also have this discussion with FIFA and all associations because I think it is not a good thing“, the head of the European umbrella organization told the news magazine” Politico “.
The relocation is okay as an exception or if the reason is justified, said Čeferin. “But basically European teams should play in Europe because their fans live in Europe. It is a great tradition.“The fans could not travel to Australia or the United States just to look at their club’s games.
La League and Series A Planning Games in Australia and the USA
In Italian series A, a game set in February is to be moved between AC Milan and Como to Australia. The San Siro as a home venue for the Milanese was occupied for the Winter Olympics at the time, the league association said in July.
The Spanish La Liga wants to play a game between FC Villarreal and Master FC Barcelona in Florida in December. The league would like to continue to establish its brand abroad and open up new audience groups. Liga competitor Real Madrid already opposed the plans that “unacceptable precedent“Would create.
For the relocation of the venues, the leagues need, among other things, the approval of the FIFA World Association. According to the Čefer, the UEFA itself could not do anything about it, since the football associations of Italy and Spain would also support the plans. “We are not happy about it, but as far as we have checked it legally, we don’t have much handle here“, said the 57-year-old.
EU Commissioner: Relocation abroad would be “fraud”
The associations could also threaten the associations at the political level. The EU Commissioner for Sport, Glenn Micallef, clearly spoke out against the plans on Wednesday. The clubs would owe a large part of their success to the fans. “Laying competitions abroad is not innovation, but fraud“The Maltese wrote in a post on X.