UEFA announced this Monday having approved, exceptionally, the relocation of two meetings of European national championships. The Liga match between Villarreal and FC Barcelona, scheduled for December 21, will be held in Miami, in the United States, while that of Serie has between AC Milan and Côme will take place the same day in Perth, Australia. These decisions follow the respective requests of the Spanish Liga and the Italian League, wishing to promote their international championship. However, the European organization wanted to recall its firm opposition to the holding of national championship matches outside their country of origin.
“” UEFA has reiterated its clear opposition today that national championship matches be played outside their country of origin. After the meeting of its executive committee in Tirana last month, UEFA undertook additional consultations with the stakeholders to assess the magnitude of the implications of this issue, following requests received from the national and Italian football associations. This consultation confirmed the general lack of support which had already been expressed by supporters, other leagues, clubs, players and European institutions concerning the concept of relocation of national championship matches abroad. However, given that the relevant regulatory framework of FIFA – currently being revised – is not sufficiently clear and detailed, the UEFA Executive Committee reluctantly made the decision to approve, exceptionally, the two requests which were submitted to it. UEFA will actively contribute to the current work carried out by FIFA to ensure that future rules preserve the integrity of national competitions and the close link between clubs, their supporters and local communities “, Commissioned the organization chaired by Aleksander čeferin.
