The Unstoppable Rise of the Globalisation of Football
When UEFA approved FC Barcelona, and AC Milan to play competitive league fixtures overseas, it wasn’t just a scheduling quirk — it was footballing equivalent of spotting an asteroid hurtling towards Earth. In this example, “Earth” is domestic football as we have always known it. Sounds dramatic? Well hear us out…
A seismic moment for European football
The news, reported by The Athletic / New York Times, signals a shift in the sport’s tectonic plates and opens the door for so many more clubs to follow. For years, the Premier League’s financial muscle — fuelled by an unrivalled broadcasting deal and global reach — has kept it comfortably ahead of its European peers.
But with LALIGA and Lega Serie A now permitted to take fixtures abroad, this gap could soon narrow. Overseas matches present enormous commercial potential, especially for those clubs with global fanbases — new sponsorship markets, gate receipts from foreign fans, and broadcast rights inflated by global exposure.
What UEFA has effectively sanctioned is a new era of competition off the pitch: the battle for global market share, taking your games to be played in the location of the highest bidder and for European leagues outside of England, an unmissable opportunity to close the financial gap. With football tourism driving up ticket prices, it already presents a risk to the traditional season ticket since clubs have the opportunity to sell tickets to one-off attendees on a match by match basis at inflated prices. The recent addition of competitive games outside of the domestic territory is an additional threat to the traditional football fan.
The independent regulator and the collision course
Meanwhile, the newly formed Independent Football Regulator (IFR) in England has a very different mandate. Its mission: to promote financial sustainability, protect club heritage, and safeguard domestic fans’ interests.
It’s easy to see where the collision lies. Were a Premier League club to propose staging a competitive fixture in, say, New York or Riyadh, the IFR would almost certainly block it under its heritage protection provisions.
As Kevin Day and Kieran Maguire discussed on the latest episode of The Price of Football podcast, this moment feels like the “thin end of the wedge.” Once one or two leagues are allowed to play competitive games abroad — and profit handsomely from it — others will inevitably follow, potentially with the exception of The Premier League , for now.
UEFA has, somewhat reluctantly, played the role of regulator at the continental level here. But its decision exposes a structural flaw: a fragmented regulatory environment. The IFR, UEFA, and FIFA all have competing mandates — heritage, commercial growth, and global brand building — that are not always aligned.
Financial sustainability vs. global opportunity
Having led the IFRS conversion of City Football Group from UK/domestic GAAPs, I’ve seen firsthand the benefits of aligning accounting standards across borders. Consistency of reporting under a global framework creates efficiency and clarity to clubs and stakeholders alike.
This raises an obvious question:
Is it time for the globalisation of financial regulation in football?
If Financial Fair Play (FFP), Financial Sustainability Regulations (FSR), Profitability & Sustainability Regulations (PSR), and other domestic equivalents differ by jurisdiction, have domestic or continental considerations and can create an environment where clubs can comply with one set of rules whilst being in breach of another — this inconsistency creates a requirement for additional judgement and interpretation of rules causing the potential for error in preparation of financial information, circumvention of the rules and a lack of understanding across stakeholders – similar to the situation caused by inconsistent accounting principles being applied across jurisdictions.
Perhaps UEFA or FIFA should now consider a unified “International Financial Regulation for Football (IFRF)” framework — a single rulebook governing financial conduct worldwide, ensuring fairness and consistency across all leagues. There should also be considerations to non-financial matters that also need to be addressed.
The human cost of globalisation
Beyond the financial intrigue lies another issue: player welfare. Increased global travel for competitive matches adds to already congested fixture schedules. Players returning from mid-season fixtures in the United States or Australia would face fatigue, disruption, and potential injuries.
The rumours of Manchester United exploring mid-season friendlies in the Middle East (BBC Sport) underscore this tension. Commercial logic often wins out over sporting logic — but at what cost to performance and player health?
Armageddon
In the 1998 film Armageddon, NASA spots an asteroid on a collision course with Earth, set to destroy it unless someone intervened. Despite the best efforts to stop it, fragments still hit the planet. The parallels are hard to ignore: UEFA’s overseas fixture approval could be the asteroid breaking through the regulatory atmosphere which will result in the need for accelerated intervention in the form of global regulation. There will be unavoidable fragments already hitting domestic football from moving just two fixtures abroad.
The Independent Football Regulator, with its mission to protect English football’s heritage, may soon find itself trying to hold back forces — globalisation, commercialisation, and continental precedent — that are simply too powerful to contain and may go way beyond its initial remit.
If La Liga and Serie A can stage fixtures abroad and reap financial rewards, it’s only a matter of time before the Premier League clubs demand the same. The IFR’s toughest challenge yet may not be domestic — it could be global.
Conclusion
The independent regulator’s creation was intended to safeguard English football from financial excess and disconnection from its communities. Yet, in an increasingly borderless football economy, its ability to do so may already be under threat.
The globalisation of fixtures is here — the only question is whether football’s financial regulation will globalise with it, or whether domestic football will face its own Armageddon.
Watch this space.
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