"If you ask an athlete if he wants to fly 20 hours to play a football match in his league, he'll obviously say it's crazy. If you ask a coach who's playing for the Scudetto or a spot in the Champions League, he'll also try to resist. If you ask people, no one wants to give up the chance to go to the stadium."
"But here it's a question of whether we want the egg today or the chicken tomorrow. Anyone developing a sports property has the obligation to think five to ten years ahead, and we must do no more and no less than what the major American leagues have always done. If you want to become an international league, you have to have the courage to make unpopular decisions that don't start by listening to the gut feelings of fans or players who have short- or medium-term interests."
San Siro will be unusable from 6 to 22 February 2026 because of the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, leaving AC Milan without a home venue for a scheduled match. Serie A plans to relocate Milan's home fixture against Como to Australia during that window. The plan has drawn significant criticism, but the league and Milan defend the move as necessary for international growth. The stated rationale emphasizes five- to ten-year strategic planning, aligning with practices of major American leagues and accepting occasional unpopular decisions. Officials argue one match out of 380 (0.26%) is a small sacrifice and note that seven authorisations are currently needed to play a match abroad.
Read at SempreMilan
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]