Lega Serie A President on ‘unacceptable’ Perth demands and Supercoppa changes

Lega Serie A President Ezio Simonelli reveals AC Milan vs. Como in Australia was dropped after ‘unacceptable new demands,’ while the Supercoppa Italiana might abandon the Final Four format.

The chief spoke to Sport Mediaset ahead of this evening’s EA Sports FC Supercup Final between Napoli and Bologna at the Al-Awwal Park stadium in Riyadh.

Although this was the Final Four format, with the runners-up of the Serie A title and Coppa Italia also participating in semi-finals, it is the traditional pairing of trophy holders who face off in the Final this year.

“The synergy with Saudi Arabia has gone well so far, we’ve been playing the Supercoppa here for four years with very positive results,” noted Simonelli.

“Next year it will not be here, as agreed in the contract, we don’t yet know where. Seeing as the contract also doesn’t require several games, we will probably return to having a one-off Final.

“After all, that is what we are seeing confirmed in this edition, which will be decided between the holders of the league and Coppa Italia.”

That was not what the locals were hoping for, as the absence of Inter and AC Milan mean the Final has significantly fewer spectators than either of the two semi-finals.

There are huge sheets of tarpaulin with the Supercoppa logo trying to cover up the vast swathes of empty seats in the stands.

Inevitably, the conversation drifted to the sudden abandonment of the planned Serie A fixture between AC Milan and Como in Perth.

The plan had seemed to find a breakthrough only to collapse over the last few hours.

“We had accepted some conditions on Thursday that were difficult for us to swallow, that we did not like, just so that we could play a Serie A match abroad for the first time in history,” explained Simonelli.

“After this great effort where he agreed to not use our own referees, we received further demands this morning that were considered unacceptable.

“So we decided not to continue any further. Basically, they asked us for some financial guarantees, and we said no.”

Considering it was being moved in February because San Siro was out of action for the opening ceremony of the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games, where will Milan-Como be played now?

“It depends on the dates and venues of any Champions League play-offs. It will be played at San Siro when the stadium is free, but we’ve got to wait until after January 31 to pick a guaranteed date.”