Serie A wants to beat Euro rivals to staging U.S. match, says league chief

ROME (AP) — With nine of its 20 teams under American ownership, Serie A hopes to be the first major European soccer league to play a game in the United States, Italian league president Ezio Simonelli said Tuesday.

FIFA last year moved toward ending decades of soccer tradition by ordering a review of its policy that currently blocks domestic league games being played in other countries.

"Holding a game abroad also requires authorization by the local league so we need to make an agreement in that regard. But we are considering timeframes that would work for this. We want to be the first league to set up an event like this in the United States," Simonelli said at an event in New York.

Simonelli was elected two months ago.

"This is a market that we count on a lot. We have nine clubs under American ownership and one Canadian, so I also need to thank them since they elected me," Simonelli said. "And we have other prospective buyers lined up."

The American owned clubs are: Atalanta, Fiorentina, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Parma, Roma, Venezia and Hellas Verona. Bologna is owned by a Canadian — Joey Saputo.

Serie A is also home to several U.S. standouts like Christian Pulisic (Milan), Weston McKennie (Juventus) and Timothy Weah (Juventus).

Serie A has held the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia and other foreign countries for years.

The Spanish league has attempted to hold games in the U.S. without success.

Inter and Juventus will play in the Club World Cup in the U.S. later this year. The U.S. is also hosting the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico.

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