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“There wasn’t a will from particular bodies to make this work,” Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti said.
Playing matches overseas is not so problematic in other sports. The NFL, for example, has staged games in the UK, Mexico, Germany, Brazil, Ireland and Spain, with Melbourne next year to host the Los Angeles Rams (Coincidentally, the WA government also fell short of a bid to host Australia’s first NFL contest).
But world football is complex with its numerous governing bodies.
9 News Perth put questions to global authority FIFA on multiple occasions throughout the approval process, but no on-record comment, or any meaningful off-record background, was ever offered.
The AFC, meanwhile, ignored questions. Before that, UEFA took four months to decide whether or not to approve the game.
The WA government went down swinging and won’t die wondering.
Saffioti has declared her administration has already dusted itself off and is ready to launch more bids to bring big sporting events to their territory.
AC Milan has enjoyed playing friendlies in Perth and the club are keen to return to Australia, though no specific events are in the pipeline yet.
As for the clash against Como, it appears likely to be held at a postponed date in Italy, given it is not possible to play at AC Milan’s San Siro Stadium on February 8, due to the Winter Olympics.
And the freeze on Serie A’s attempted expansion won’t be thawing anytime soon.
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