Nothing like a ‘fiery’ duel: The match between Modrić and Baturina in Australia was cancelled

The duel was supposed to be played in Perth on February 8, because Milan’s Giuseppe Meazza stadium (San Siro) will not be available at that time, due to the ceremonial opening of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games, which will be held there two days before.

It was supposed to be the first official match from the “League of Five” played outside national borders. The cancellation was by mutual agreement, following a disagreement with the AFC over jurisdiction, Serie A and the Western Australian government announced in a joint statement.

“Both parties made the decision due to financial risks that could not be mitigated, difficult approval conditions and last-minute complications beyond their control,” the statement said.

Serie A president Ezio Simonelli complained that the Italian league “exactly and correctly followed the complex approval process, which lasted more than 12 months”, through all relevant bodies “and even accepted the very questionable sporting conditions imposed by the Asian Football Confederation”.

Simonelli went on to say that the decision to scrap the plan was made “due to the escalation of further unacceptable demands made by the AFC a few hours earlier to the Football Association of Australia, the Western Australian government and Serie A management”.

Western Australian Sport and Recreation Minister Rita Saffioti said the decision was “disappointing but the right thing to do”.

“This project has been in the making for months and we did everything we could to implement it, but football politics, legal issues and bureaucracy got in the way.”

Italian media reported that the match will be played at San Siro, but at a different time. February 17 and 24 are mentioned as possible dates for the match, depending on when Inter Milan will play a home match in the knockout phase of the Champions League.

Saturday’s La Liga match between Villarreal and Barcelona, ​​originally scheduled to take place in Miami, ended up being played in Spain. The plan with Miami was scrapped in October after a fan outcry. Fan organizations protested against playing domestic matches abroad and asked the International Football Federation (FIFA) to ban them.