Khaberni - The decision of the European Football Association (UEFA) to allow a match in the Italian league between Milan and Como in Australia during next February elicited sharp reactions from the French player, Adrian Rabiot of Milan, and the CEO of the Italian league.
Rabiot, a midfielder for Milan, described traveling by air for 20 hours round trip to attend the match in Perth, which is six hours ahead of Italy in time zone, during a crucial month of the season as "completely insane".
Rabiot told the French newspaper "Le Figaro": "It's all about financial deals, providing clear visibility for the league, and these are matters that give us (the players) priority."
He added: "There's all this talk about match schedules and resting players, but it all seems extremely ridiculous, from the insanity of traveling all this distance for a match between two Italian teams in Australia, we have to adapt, as usual."
The cities of Milan and Como are less than an hour apart, but Milan needed to find another place to play its home game on February 8, as the San Siro stadium would not be available after being used to open the Olympic Games between Milan and Cortina two days earlier.
In turn, Luigi Di Servo, the CEO of the Italian Serie A, pointed out that Rabiot "like all football players who earn millions, forgets that he is paid to perform his job, which is playing football."
He added that the American Football League, the National Basketball Association, the Tour de France, and the Giro d'Italia travel abroad regularly, explaining: "This is intended to enhance the product, not weaken it."
