UEFA faces big question: Can European football league matches be played outside Europe?

UEFA, the body that runs football in Europe, is now facing a big question. Should European matches be allowed to be played outside its territory? The issue came up after Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A requested UEFA to allow them to host one game each in the United States and Australia, respectively.

UEFA has now confirmed that it will discuss the issue with fans and other stakeholders before making any decision on whether these matches can be played outside the continent. Spain’s La Liga want to take one game this season to Miami, USA, while Italy’s Serie A want one of their matches to be played in Perth, Australia.

Fans and EU officials raise concerns

The idea has triggered strong reactions from supporters and even the European Commission. EU Sport Commissioner Glenn Micallef has already expressed his strong objection, saying he was “deeply disappointed” by the plans. Supporter groups like Football Supporters Europe (FSE) have also voiced concerns over the proposals.

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“These are European competitions and European competitions should be played in Europe, I think that’s quite clear. It’s the European Cup. You can say I’m emotional on this, but if you have a favorite local club and if that club manages to get to the final of a trophy, be it the national cup or another final, why shouldn’t you be able to afford to watch your team,” Micallef told POLITICO.

“We, supporters’ groups from across Europe, representing millions of football fans, express our firm opposition to the ongoing attempt to subvert the rules of the game by allowing leagues to relocate games elsewhere around the world. The latest efforts to disrupt the nature of European football with La Liga and Serie A trying to relocate games to the United States and Australia are a direct attack on the essence of football,” FSE said in a statement.

UEFA to consult stakeholders before making final decision

Responding to the controversy, UEFA released an official statement after its recent Executive Committee meeting. It said that the committee discussed the requests from Royal Spanish Football Federation and the Italian Football Federation to approve the playing of one domestic league match each outside the home country, but no decision was taken in the meeting.

“The committee acknowledged it as an important and growing issue but expressed the desire to ensure that it has the views of all stakeholders before coming to a final decision. There are many issues to resolve and as the European governing body, UEFA has a responsibility to take all such factors into account,” the statement read.

“As a result, no decision was taken today but UEFA will undertake a round of consultation with all stakeholders in European football - including fans,” it added.

UEFA President objects to the plans

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin also made his stance clear on the issue. He recently told POLITICO that European teams should play in Europe, but admitted that UEFA may not have strong legal powers to stop leagues from trying to take their games outside the continent.

“We’re not happy but, as much as we checked legally, we don’t have much space here, if the federation agrees, and both federations agreed. But I think that for the future we’ll have to discuss this very seriously, because football should be played in Europe, fans should watch football at home, they cannot travel to Australia or the U.S. to watch their teams.”