Exceptions for LaLiga and Serie A
©IMAGO
After the much-discussed UEFA approval for two league games abroad, the German Football League has formulated a clear position. Accordingly, there will be no such exceptions in the Bundesliga, as managing director Marc Lenz said in the “Spielmacher” podcast from “360Media”. “No, that’s not relevant to us,” Lenz clarified.
The European Football Union UEFA approved applications from the Italian and Spanish associations this week. The LaLiga game between FC Villarreal and FC Barcelona can take place in Miami (USA) in December. The venue for the Serie A game between AC Milan and Como in February is Perth (Australia).
“Yes, it would help central marketing. But no, that is clearly not our core and not our social anchoring that we imagine,” said Lenz, who leads the league association together with his colleague Steffen Merkel. “Very clear boundaries have been set”, so such a path is simply “not an option”.
UEFA had approved the requests “exceptionally” and “reluctantly” because there were gaps in the regulations at FIFA level. These would be revised. “While it is regrettable that these two matches have to take place, this decision is an exception and should not be seen as a precedent,” said UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin. Lenz doubts whether such events are a big success for the future. He calculated that it might be a double-digit million amount – around one million euros per club. “Is that really what significantly improves competitiveness? For me, there are other issues that are much more important,” said Lenz. The DFL is trying to “strengthen internationalization in other ways.”