Football once again fails the ultimate globalisation test

The death of globalisation as an economic principle has been widely proclaimed given the reintroduction of tariffs as a political and economic weapon. However, it is alive and well in footall as is illustrated by the extensive involvement of US-based private equity firms in European football clubs. Europe may be finished in some American eyes, but its ‘soccer ball’ clubs remain world class.

The ultimate test of globalisation in football would be the staging of a regular league match in another country, but so far all attempts have failed in the face of exist ing rules. Court challenges have been only partially successful.

Plans to stage a Serie A game between Milan and Como in Perth, Australia have been abandoned, the league’s president and the government of Western Australia said in a joint statement on Monday. Many fans will no doubt be pleased, but those pushing this concept are not going to give up - and they have plenty of money to spend on good lawyers.

It’s a while since I’ve been to Western Australia, but I did notice that there seemed to be a substantial community of Italian descent in Fremantle (near Perth) and even an Italian language newspaper.

The fixture would have been the first European league match to take place abroad. The Athletic reported on December 11 that the game was in doubt due to conditions set by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Any match would have needed to be approved by all relevant governing bodies, including FIFA, the FIGC, Football Australia, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the confederation Australia is part of.

Serie A president Ezio Maria Simoncelli asserted last week that the game would go ahead in Perth as planned, but said he had expressed “doubts” about the AFC’s conditions.

In Monday’s statement, the government and Simoncelli said that the game was now off “due to financial risks that could not be mitigated, onerous approval conditions, and last-minute complications beyond their control”.

“The fixture secured the approval of all 20 Lega Calcio Serie A clubs, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC), and UEFA,” the statement added. However, the onerous conditions from the AFC to sanction the fixture could not be implemented without financial risks to the Western Australian Government and Serie A that could not be mitigated. The Government and Lega Calcio Serie A exhausted every viable option to bring the historic fixture to Western Australia.”

In October, UEFA “regrettably” approved a landmark move to allow domestic league matches to be staged abroad while reiterating its “clear opposition” to any plans to do, saying it granted the move “on an exceptional basis amid regulatory gaps at global level”.

Spain’s La Liga had also been hopeful of staging December’s match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami, Florida. In October however, promoter Relevent Sports described the planned match as “postponed” over insufficient timing and a La Liga statement said a decision had been made to cancel the event.

Relevent, the events promoter and media rights company co-founded and owned by billionaire Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross, has a joint venture with La Liga to grow the league’s business in North America and the game was due to be played at the Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

La Liga’s plans were cancelled in the aftermath of player protests across the league, when matches did not start for the opening 15 seconds across matchday nine. The Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE) said the protests had the backing of captains across Spain’s top flight and were a “symbolic protest against La Liga’s lack of transparency, dialogue and consistency” over its decision to play a match abroad.

In April, Relevent settled a six-month lawsuit with the U.S Soccer Federation, paving the way for European domestic matches to be held abroad, which had previously been forbidden. In May 2024, FIFA approved a working group to look into potential changes to its rules after world football’s governing body was dropped as a defendant by Relevent.

Opponents of matches being staged abroad may have won another battle, but I doubt whether they will win the awar.

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The Political Economy of Football V2

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