Why is the 2024 Italian Super Cup being played in Saudi Arabia?

The 2024 Italian Super Cup began this week with the competition now expanded to four teams.

Historically, the Supercoppa Italiana has always been a one-off match between the current holders of Serie A and the current holders of the Coppa Italia, but this year the runners-up of both competitions will also take part.

But why is the Italian Super Cup being played in Saudi Arabia?

This year, the tournament will be played in Saudi Arabia but this isn't the first time that the Supercoppa has been played away from Italy. In fact, out of the 35 editions of the tournament, only 23 of them have been played in Italy, making this a truly international competition.

The first overseas Supercoppa Italiana to be played away from Italy was in 1993 when AC Milan and Torino faced off in Washington in the United States.

The match finished 1-0 to Milan, with more than 25,000 American fans turning up to watch. Ever since, the tournament has regularly gone overseas, with Supercoppa matches being played in China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Libya.

Why is the 2024 Italian Super Cup being played in Saudi Arabia?

It was back in 2018 that Saudi Arabia first got involved in Italian football when authorities announced that the nation would host three Italian Super Cups between 2018 and 2023. When that deal ran out in March 2023, Italian football and the government of Saudi Arabia struck a new deal to not only play more matches in Saudi Arabia but to expand the tournament.

Lorenzo Casini, the president of Serie A, released a statement saying:

“The Lega Serie A Assembly, which met today in Milan with the participation of all 20 clubs, accepted the offer to play four of the next six editions of the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.”

It has been agreed that Saudi Arabia will host the Italian Super Cup in 2024, 2025, 2028 and 2029, with the hosts for the 2026 and 2027 editions of the tournament to be announced in due course. It is now expected that the four-team format will stay in place indefinitely.

During the 2023 tournament, all three matches were played at the KSU Stadium in Riyadh. The stadium has a capacity of 25,000 people and is the home ground of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr.

However, in the 2024 tournament, which actually takes place in the first weeks of 2025, matches will be hosted across two different venues. The two semi-finals will again take place at the KSU Stadium, but this time, the final will be hosted by the KINGDOM Arena.

This stadium is the home of Al Hilal and has a capacity of 26,000.

When is the 2024 Italian Super Cup being played?

The Spanish Super Cup is thought to have inspired the Italian Super Cup.

Since 2019, four teams have battled it out for the Spanish Super Cup using the same format that is set to be used for the Italian Super Cup this week. The tournament has been played in Saudi Arabia since 2019, with the exception of 2021 due to the Covid pandemic, and will continue to be played there until 2029.

Despite the controversy that has surrounded this decision, each and every year, the four teams that qualify for the tournament will be desperate to get their hands on the trophy, and this season is no different.

The four qualified teams for the 2024 Italian Super Cup are: Inter Milann, Atalanta, Juventus and AC Milan, the games of which are scheduled as follows:

Semi-finals 

• Inter Milan 2-0 Atalanta – Thursday, 2 December
• Juventus vs AC Milan – Friday, 3 December

Final 

• Inter Milan vs TBD – Monday, 6 January

OFFICIAL: Inter Milan Qualifies For The Italian Super Cup Final! ????

Inter Milan In The Last 4 Versions Of Yhe Italian Super Cup.

✅ Qualified For The 2021 Final ?
✅ Qualified For The 2022 Final ?
✅ Qualified For The 2023 Final ?
✅ Qualified For The 2024 Final ? pic.twitter.com/wS44VOHCdV

— Deen Senior (@deensnr) January 2, 2025

FGG Says: Could the Community Shield follow suit?

Given the Premier League's incredible financial strength at this moment in time, it was perhaps somewhat predictable that countries such as Italy and Spain would begin exploring the global market to compete.

However, ‘The Super League' plans in recent years have already shown that English clubs were not completely against this idea; instead, it was the fans who banded together and stopped it from happening in England.

That, therefore, begs the question as to whether the Community Shield (the English Super Cup, if you will) could potentially move abroad in the future.

While technically silverware, supporters rarely treat it as important and, therefore, it may be a place where they are willing to compromise and could potentially be the change that propels the trophy to more significance than it currently holds.

However, it remains to be seen whether the Engish FA will, at some point, decide to follow their European counterparts.