FIFA Reviews Potential Ban on Domestic League Matches Abroad

FIFA has started reviewing its rules about hosting domestic league matches in other countries and has asked for legal advice on whether it can stop this practice.

Details: As reported by The Guardian, FIFA wants to limit these matches, but the final decision will depend on the results of a legal review—the first update of these rules in 11 years.

FIFA plans to enforce stricter regulations, aiming for the new rules to be in place by early next year. This week, UEFA explained its decision to allow the Villarreal vs Barcelona match in Miami in December and the Milan vs Como match in Perth in February by citing current FIFA rules—a move that upset FIFA, as those decisions were not officially sanctioned by them.

The rules from 2014 currently allow FIFA to block so-called “international matches” only if certain procedures are not followed: matches must be approved by the football associations of the teams involved, the host country, and the relevant confederations.

In this instance, La Liga and Serie A gave their approval at the season’s start, then passed the decision to UEFA, with the final say resting with the US and Australian federations and their confederations—Concacaf and the AFC.