There is a “general consensus across the football industry” that FIFA’s policies will “soon approve domestic league games to be played abroad, despite the fact” that the working group formed to explore the issue “has only met once formally,” according to sources cited by Adam Crafton of THE ATHLETIC. La Liga remains the “frontrunner to be the first overseas league to play a game on U.S. soil,” but Serie A, Liga MX and UEFA competitions “all have advocates keen to do so.” Despite La Liga’s “collective desire to bring a game to the U.S.,” Real Madrid has “expressed internal opposition.” MLS has been “most concerned by the possibility of Liga MX bringing games over the border.” Some representatives on the FIFA working group are “keen to agree to guidelines that restrict the number of games that could be played in a specific foreign territory per calendar year by a single competition, or even a single team,” but this “could risk further anti-trust litigation.” A FIFA spokesperson said that the working group is “continuing to build towards its recommendations.” Crafton notes “no recommendation has yet been issued, nor any rule established,” that would “require a fixed limit on the number of competitive games a league or a team may play in a specific territory each season.” The “race to be first in this venture,” and the “hurdles to clear in order to pull it off, make for a complicated picture.” Despite the settlements between FIFA, U.S. and Relevent, it is “unclear the extent to which the doors will be flung open” (THE ATHLETIC, 4/25).
Report: FIFA expected to approve domestic league games played abroad
