MILAN: Footballers should respect the money they make and their employers, Serie A Chief Executive Luigi De Siervo said on Wednesday in response to AC Milan midfielder Adrien Rabiot’s concerns over his club’s planned league match in Australia.
Italy’s Serie A have turned the unavailability of the San Siro in February due to the Winter Olympics into an opportunity for Italian football to increase international visibility, and Milan’s fixture with Como will be played in Perth.
Rabiot, currently on international duty with France, called the decision crazy when he spoke to French newspaper Le Figaro on Tuesday.
“I was surprised when I learned that AC Milan will be playing a Serie A match against Como ... in Australia,” Rabiot said.
“It’s completely crazy. But these are financial agreements to give visibility to the league, things that are beyond us.
“There’s a lot of talk about schedules and player health, but this all seems truly absurd. It’s crazy to travel so many miles for a match between two Italian teams in Australia. We have to adapt, as always.”
De Siervo, attending a Serie A assembly meeting in Rome, was asked about Rabiot’s remarks that these decisions are taken without the input of players.
“He’s right, but Rabiot forgets, like all footballers who earn millions of euros, that they are paid to carry out an activity, to play football,” De Siervo told reporters.
“He should have respect for the money he earns, complying with the wishes of his employer, Milan, who accepted and pushed for this match to be played abroad.”
UEFA, while opposed to domestic league matches being played abroad, reluctantly approved the fixture on Monday (along with a LaLiga game in Miami), saying that FIFA’s regulatory framework, still under review, lacks sufficient clarity and detail.
De Siervo, however, believes football needs to follow the example of other sports if the game is to continue to grow.
“Last year’s Tour de France started from Florence, the Giro d’Italia often begins abroad. This is done to strengthen the product, not weaken it,” he said of the cycling events.
“The NFL and NBA have been playing away from the US for years, with the concept of being a global product.
“UEFA said it was against it, but accepted the exceptional nature of this event. We believe, however, that this can be a model that the world of football, with precise rules, must follow if it is not to lose out to other sports.”
Serie A chief dismisses Rabiot concerns over Milan’s Australia fixture
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Serie A chief dismisses Rabiot concerns over Milan’s Australia fixture
- Italy’s Serie A have turned the unavailability of the San Siro in February due to the Winter Olympics into an opportunity for Italian football to increase international visibility
- Rabiot said: “It’s completely crazy”
Two own goals save Arsenal blushes against Wolves
LONDON: Arsenal avoided a major embarrassment against Premier League bottom club Wolves on Saturday, benefiting from two own goals — one in stoppage time — to win 2-1 and move five points clear of Manchester City.
Manager Mikel Arteta admitted that his team had struggled to create clear chances and that the win should have been much more comfortable.
But he said that the manner of the victory would give the team a major boost.
“That gives you belief that regardless of how the game goes, you can always find a solution to win it,” he told TNT Sports.
“But now we’re going to have a clean week. We need to start to train certain aspects slowly, because if you don’t train them, you start to deteriorate a little bit.”
Arteta’s men were blunt in the first half, failing to muster a single shot on target as Gabriel Martinelli wasted a clutch of chances.
The Arsenal boss made three changes shortly before the hour mark, bringing on Leandro Trossard, Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino for Martinelli, Eberechi Eze and Martin Zubimendi.
The Gunners mounted wave after wave of attacks, and Declan Rice’s shot midway through the second half — their first on target — was well saved by Sam Johnstone.
But in the 70th minute the sheer weight of pressure told to the enormous relief of an impatient and nervy Emirates crowd.
Johnstone flicked Bukayo Saka’s corner onto a post as he scrambled to reach the ball but it rebounded back onto his arm and into the net for an own goal.
Gabriel Jesus came on for Viktor Gyokores for his first home match after 11 months out injured.
Astonishingly, Wolves pulled level in the 90th minute, when Mateus Mane’s flat cross was headed in by Nigerian striker Tolu Arokodare.
But just as the Arsenal fans contemplated a damaging draw, the Gunners benefited from a second own goal.
Saka delivered a perfect cross which Jesus attacked but the ball was diverted into his own net by Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera.
Winless Wolves, with a ninth league defeat in a row, have mustered just two points from their 16 games so far and are on course for the worst season in Premier League history.
Pep Guardiola’s City travel to in-form Crystal Palace on Sunday seeking to close the gap to Arsenal, who have not won the Premier League since 2004.
