Italian football powerhouses AC Milan and AS Roma to play match at Perth’s Optus Stadium

First it was Coldplay, then it was WWE wrestling and Pink. Now, Italian football is coming to Perth. The Sunday Times can reveal that the Cook Government is just days away from announcing the Ferrari of world soccer — Italian football — is coming to Perth later this year. Italian football powerhouses AC Milan and AS Roma will play each other in Perth at the start of winter. It is understood they will play one night match at the 60,000-capacity Optus Stadium, an event that is expected to attract thousands of people from interstate and possibly overseas. The Cook Government remained tight-lipped about the imminent announcement when approached by The Sunday Times on Saturday. But a State Government spokesperson said: “We’ve seen the success of recent major events in Western Australia, such as Coldplay and WWE, as well as English Premier League exhibition matches. “The WA Government is always looking for unique major sporting, entertainment and cultural event opportunities to drive visitation and inject millions into the State.” In June last year, then newly crowned Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti said she wanted to bring big sporting and entertainment events to Perth. She hinted that Italian soccer would make its way here. “The dream would be to land an Italian soccer team to Perth,” Ms Saffioti said last June. “To get every passionate soccer fan to Perth. “The Coldplay example shows that if you can get them just to come to WA, you will get thousands of people from over east. “So, the dream is to land an Italian soccer team. “I watched Inter Milan play Napoli in Milan in January (2023) with my kids — 85,000 people were there.” The average salary of the Serie A footballer is $3 million, and both teams will be bringing a sizeable footballing fortune to Perth. AC Milan have been European champions seven times and won the top-tier league in Italian football, Serie A, in 2022. It boasts several stars like French footballer Olivier Giroud and American Christian Pulisic. Roma has struggled in recent years, but has a proud history and great players like the legendary Francesco Totti. Under new coach Daniele De Rossi, Roma boasts stars like Argentinian forward Paulo Dybala and fellow forward, Belgian Romelu Lukaku. Roma striker Lukaku’s annual salary is $14.9m — that’s $285,000 a week — and he’s rumoured to be dating American rapper Megan Thee Stallion. Dybala has a base salary of $11.6m and his partner is Argentine model, actor and singer Oriana Sabatini. Meanwhile, AC Milan’s Giroud earns a tidy $7.4m a year, while his teammate Pulisic earns $8.2m. Big events like Coldplay and WWE have attracted thousands of people to Perth from interstate and overseas. More than 130,000 people attended Coldplay across two nights last November, of which nearly 40,000 travelled from out of state to see them. And nearly 53,000 people turned out to watch WWE Elimination Chamber at Optus last Saturday, bringing nearly 17,000 out-of-state ticketholders, talent, media and staff to Perth. WWE has confirmed the Perth event was the most watched Elimination Chamber in WWE history, reaching over 1 billion households. It is hoped people from all over Australia will come to watch the Italian sides play in Perth — and perhaps even overseas fans. EPL games were played in Perth in 2023 and 2022. In 2022, Manchester United, Leeds, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace played in Perth, bringing 14,480 visitors from outside WA. And last year, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United were in Perth. More than 70,000 people attended last year’s matches over two days — Perth Glory v West Ham and Tottenham v West Ham.