Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has said there are no plans for top-flight matches to be played abroad, insisting “it’s not a debate around our table”.
Masters’ comments come after news that the football federations of both Spain and Italy are currently in talks with Fifa and Uefa over plans to stage league fixtures in Australia and the United States this season.
Should permission be granted by the two governing bodies, it could see a La Liga game between Barcelona and Villarreal in December played in Miami – in what would be a first-ever European league fixture to be played outside the home country – and a contest between Serie A sides AC Milan and Como taking place in Perth, Australia in February.
One-off finals, such as the Italian Super Cup and Spanish Super Cup, have been held abroad over the last few seasons, but Masters was quick to deny the English top-flight would follow suit.
“I don’t think it changes the Premier League’s view on this at all, we don’t have any plans to play matches abroad,” Masters said.
“It’s not anywhere near my in-tray and it’s not a debate around our table.”
The concept of the Premier League playing a ’39th game’ outside England was previously raised in 2008 but the plans were halted after criticism from fans and the media.
And Masters said there was no need to revisit the idea any time soon.
He added: “The Premier League flirted with this over a decade ago and the reason was to grow the league internationally and we were able to do this through different means – digital means, broadcast partners, concepts like the summer series in the US.
“The necessity that was driving that concept has dissipated.”
On Wednesday, the Premier League CEO also gave an update on the case surrounding Manchester City and the club’s multiple charges for alleged breaches of the league’s financial rules.
In 2023, City were charged with at least 115 alleged rule-breaches over a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018, and a 12-week behind-closed-doors hearing ran between September and December of last year.
However, Masters said the Premier League has no influence over the verdict or time frame for a decision.
“I can’t talk about it,” he told Sky Sports.
“Our rules are very specific, they say we can’t talk about things as the charges are made and not until a decision has been published. We still await that decision, and I can’t talk about the timing and speculate when that may be.
“What I can tell you about is the system and how it works: it’s an independent judiciary. Once the allegations and charges have been put forward, they go before an independent panel which is independently selected. And they are then in charge of the process and its timings.
“They hear the case, they decide the outcome. We have no influence over that or its timing. And that’s right from an independent point of view, you have independent people making those decisions. And we just have to wait.”
