Serie A’s hand has been forced to some degree by the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, the opening ceremony for which is being held at the San Siro - home to both AC Milan and Inter Milan - on February 6. That means the storied 80,000-seat venue is off limits for the two Milan clubs between January 10 and February 8, and that they will need to take matches elsewhere during that time. The major remaining obstacle is approval from UEFA, which needs to provide the green light for any matches to go ahead - something it has never done before. Football Australia would also need to provide sanctioning, but that is certain to be given, sources say. Optus Stadium hosted a post-season friendly between AC Milan and AS Roma almost 12 months ago, which attracted a crowd of 56,000. The relationship built from those discussions has put Perth, rather than Sydney or Melbourne, in the box seat for the possibility of a full-blown Serie A match, and high-ranking government representatives have been involved in the recent talks.