Overview
- Lega Serie A and the Government of Western Australia issued a joint announcement canceling the 8 February Perth staging due to onerous approval conditions, last-minute complications and risks outside their control.
- League president Ezio Simonelli said an escalation of additional, “unacceptable” requests from the Asian Football Confederation made the game impossible to stage in Australia.
- Reporting indicates the AFC’s conditions included using a non-Italian referee and foreign VAR arrangements, concessions the league had already accepted before further demands surfaced.
- The fixture will be recovered at San Siro on an in-season midweek date, with 17 February considered most likely and 24 February as a fallback depending on scheduling.
- Western Australia’s Rita Saffioti said no payments were made and the state incurred no loss, while Italian outlets estimated the shelved project at about €12 million, highlighting governance hurdles to exporting domestic fixtures.