Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin says the governing body has limited legal power to block the games if national federations approve them
Football supporters from across Europe have called on Uefa and Fifa to stop proposals from Spain and Italy to stage domestic league fixtures overseas.
More than 400 supporter groups, coordinated by Football Supporters Europe (FSE), signed a statement on Wednesday opposing moves that would see Barcelona face Villarreal in Miami this December and AC Milan host Como in Perth, Australia in February.
The joint letter comes ahead of Uefa’s executive committee meeting in Tirana on 11 September, where the issue is expected to be raised.
The groups warned that approving the requests could “open a Pandora’s box with unpredictable and irreversible consequences”.
“We call on Uefa, Fifa and all national associations to stand firm, play their role as regulators of the game and ensure that football remains rooted in our communities, where it belongs,” their statement read.
“Clubs are neither entertainment companies nor travelling circuses. They exist for the benefit of their communities and provide a sense of belonging, where fans have been attending home games for generations.”
The campaign has support from fan groups in 25 countries, including Villarreal supporters, who would be directly affected by the Barcelona fixture.
The push to export matches abroad follows years of pressure from promoters to expand European leagues into new markets.
The Villarreal versus Barcelona match is set to take place at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, owned by Stephen Ross, whose company Relevent has long sought to bring La Liga games to the United States.
Relevent is also now a key commercial partner of Uefa, after securing a deal earlier this year to handle Champions League broadcasting and sponsorship rights from 2027.
Last month, Glenn Micallef, the EU’s sports commissioner, lent his voice to critics of the proposal, warning that moving fixtures abroad “isn’t innovation, it’s betrayal” and that “clubs owe most of their success to their loyal fans and local communities”.
However, both Serie A and La Liga, whom the comments were directed to, hit back with statements of their own.
La Liga president Javier Tebas said: “I understand the concern, but we need to put things into perspective: we are talking about one match out of 380.
“I am surprised that there is not as much alarm about projects such as the NBA-FIBA European league, which do fundamentally disrupt the European sports model, or about piracy, which is ruining many professional competitions.”
Meanwhile, Serie A said in its statement that Micallef’s stance “seems an excessive position, which risks fuelling a populist debate”.
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin is against the proposal but has said the governing body has limited legal power to block the games if national federations approve them.
Ceferin said: “We’re not happy but, as much as we checked legally, we don’t have much space here if the federations agree, and both [Spanish and Italian] federations agreed.”
The Premier League has no plans of joining the scheme after chief executive Richard Masters ruled it out last month, despite having explored the idea over the last decade and a half.
“Our objective at the time when thinking about it was to help grow the Premier League around the world,” said Masters. “We’ve been able to do that through different means … so the necessity has dissipated.”
