Domestic leagues would be limited to staging one game a season in foreign countries under Fifa proposals that significantly raise the bar for controversial “international matches” to be approved.
A new protocol, developed by a Fifa working group set up almost two years ago, would bring in clearer regulations to police the divisive issue and introduce strict limits.
In addition to each league being permitted to relocate one top-division game, it is understood host countries would be allowed to stage a maximum of five matches affiliated to another league each season.
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La Liga and Serie A had scheduled league games for Miami and Perth respectively this season, sparking a political row involving Fifa and Uefa, but the fixtures – Villarreal v Barcelona and Milan v Como – were scrapped after objections raised by local authorities. La Liga’s American promoter, Relevent Sports, also got cold feet. The episodes caused considerable bad blood between many parties involved.
Under the new protocol any request to switch a competitive game to a foreign territory would be considered only if it had approval from all major stakeholders, and Fifa would have a right of veto.
Any request would have to be accepted by the national association of the clubs involved, their confederation, the football association of the country planning to host the game and its confederation, before being passed to Fifa.
Under this model, the domestic league would not be consulted in the event that the clubs pushed against its wishes for a game abroad. England’s FA would not sanction a switch against the Premier League’s wishes but such alignment is not necessarily the case in every country and could lead to tension.
Sources indicate Fifa may block requests if it has concerns over player welfare relating to workload and excessive travel.
The proposals include a demand for guarantees that revenue from domestic matches held abroad would be redistributed throughout the sport, and evidence that the host country’s league would not be adversely affected. Proof that plans and, if necessary, compensation were in place for the clubs’ supporters to attend the games would also be sought.
Under the existing regulations, drafted in 2014, Fifa can block what its rulebook calls an “international match” only if the correct processes are not followed.
No date has been scheduled for the working group’s next meeting, where it is expected to consider stakeholder feedback, but there is an ambition at Fifa to have the protocol in place for next season.
Even a tightening of the rules may not dampen fierce debate within the sport and among supporter groups over a divisive topic. There was widespread outrage last year after La Liga and Serie A announced plans to move a league fixture. They are determined to try again, but the Premier League has repeatedly insisted it will not do so despite widespread suspicion that some American owners in particular would like to stage league games in the US.
Uefa had approved the matches while stressing its reluctance and described Fifa’s framework as “not clear and detailed enough”. Fifa explored banning games abroad but decided against on legal advice.
A desire to protect Major League Soccer and US Soccer is critical to Fifa’s thinking because the American market would be the main target for clubs if they were permitted to move league games abroad.
The provision that one country could stage no more than five international games a season has been included owing to concerns that the US would be swamped by clubs from Europe, South and Central America seeking to play there to take advantage of the lucrative North American ticket market.
A near-identical set of protocols has also been drafted covering the creation of international competitions between clubs or national teams from different continents. It is unclear whether any planned changes to Fifa’s Club World Cup – such as further expansion or more frequent staging – would be subjected to these procedures.
Similarly to the proposals for top-flight games, domestic leagues would not be consulted under these rules, meaning in theory that the Premier League could be sidelined if a new tournament were authorised.
Fifa has been attempting to grapple with the issue of international matches for some time and spent years fighting a legal battle with Relevent, which in 2019 brought an anti-trust lawsuit against US Soccer after a La Liga request for Barcelona to play Girona in Miami was denied the previous year. Fifa was named as a co-defendant.
Relevent withdrew the lawsuit in 2024, which led to the New York-based company being named on the Fifa working group along with representatives of six confederations, European Football Clubs and World Leagues.
Relevent’s relationship with the authorities and clubs has improved significantly since, and last year its subsidiary Relevent Football Partners was awarded the contract to sell Uefa’s commercial and broadcast rights on behalf of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Fifa declined to comment, with a source describing the situation as ongoing.
