2018 Supercoppa Italiana

Juventus won 1–0 to claim a record eighth Supercoppa title.

The 2018 Supercoppa Italiana was the 31st edition of the tournament, played on 16 January 2019 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It featured Juventus, winners of both the 2017–18 Serie A and Coppa Italia, against AC Milan, the 2017–18 Coppa Italia runners-up. Juventus won 1–0, becoming the first club to claim eight Supercoppa titles.

Quick Facts

Event: Supercoppa Italiana
Date: 16 January 2019
Stadium: King Abdullah Sports City
City: Jeddah
Referee: Luca Banti
Attendance: 61,235

Facts from the source article.

Venue

The match was announced on 6 June 2018 as part of an agreement to hold three of the next five Supercoppa editions in Saudi Arabia, with the game scheduled for January 2019. This was the tenth Supercoppa Italiana played outside Italy, following editions in 1993, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016. On 5 December 2018, Lega Serie A confirmed the fixture for 16 January 2019 at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, making it the first international football tournament at that stadium since its 2014 opening.

Controversy

The 2018 Supercoppa Italiana was scheduled to be played in Saudi Arabia, a decision that drew sharp criticism following the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy in Turkey in October 2018. Groups like Amnesty International urged the competing teams and Lega Serie A to move the match, calling it an attempt to improve the country’s reputation through sportswashing. Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini condemned the choice as “disgusting” because of Saudi restrictions on women attending the game.

Laura Boldrini argued that football officials should not be allowed to bargain away women’s rights. Lega Serie A president Gaetano Micciché defended the venue, pointing out that women had been allowed into Saudi stadiums since January 2018 and that for this match they could sit in a family section making up about 15 percent of the 60,000 seats. He said the event would help promote Italian football globally. The league’s MENA rights holder, beIN Sports, also opposed the hosting arrangement.

This was tied to the Qatar diplomatic crisis, which had forced beIN Sports to stop operating in Saudi Arabia, where the pirate broadcaster BeoutQ was illegally retransmitting its content. beIN Sports repeatedly claimed BeoutQ was based inside Saudi Arabia. In November 2019, beIN Sports threatened to end its relationship with Serie A over the Saudi deal, accusing the league of profiting from the same entity that had been stealing its broadcasts for two years.