Serie A president confirms Milan-Como for Australia after Infantino conversation

Lega Serie A President Ezio Simonelli has confirmed that February’s match between Milan and Como will go ahead in Perth, Australia as planned.

Simonelli spoke to Sport Mediaset from the Supercoppa Italiana in Riyadh, prior to Milan’s match against Napoli this evening.

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“We are very satisfied with the success this event is having, so seeing the stadium sold out shows this process of internationalising Serie A is doing well, getting people accustomed to cheering on these Italian teams,” Simonelli told Sport Mediaset.

“Even walking around Riyadh, we saw people with Milan and Napoli shirts, they were very enthusiastic. This is all proof that our activities are having results.”

The fixture is set to kick off at 19:00 GMT (20:00 CET), with a lot on the line for both clubs in what promises to be an exciting match.

Simonelli then turned his attention to February’s match between Milan and Como, confirming that the fixture will take place in Australia.

“Milan-Como will be played in Perth on February 8 as planned. We met Infantino in Doha, it was a very cordial meeting as always. We had a series of doubts over some of the conditions that had been set, which we considered impractical, for example being asked to use Asian Federation referees, as we have great faith in our Italian referees.”

Finally, he discussed the hurdles in arranging the fixtures and how iconic former referee Pierluigi Collina assisted in easing the worries of the league.

“However, Pierluigi Collina reassured us on the quality of the Asian referees, and highlighted a couple of officials who could be assigned the game. That was the most difficult thing to accept, the biggest obstacle, but we have overcome that thanks to the reassurances of Collina.”