photo by Brad Mills/USA Today Sports
By FRANCO PANIZO
Not only is it not a done deal that the United States hosts the Copa America Centenario next summer, but there is also now no guarantee that the U.S. Men’s National Team takes part in it.
U.S. Soccer officials will not be in attendance on Thursday when representatives from both CONMEBOL and CONCACAF meet in Mexico City to continue discussions about the 2016 tournament, according to a report from the New York Times. The report also cites multiple unidentified officials that believe it is “probable” that the U.S. will not compete in the Copa America Centenario if it is not the host nation.
If the U.S. does not stage the tournament, Mexico could be where it is held. Another alternative is to play the competition in South America.
How the Copa America Centenario would go about replacing the U.S. as a team in the competition is unknown, but there have been rumors in recent months of providing another qualifying opportunity to CONCACAF countries like Honduras and Canada that originally failed to make it to the tournament.
In the aftermath of the scandal that rocked FIFA this past spring, U.S. Soccer has wanted certain conditions met and assurances made before finalizing a deal to serve as host of the Copa America Centenario. The New York Times report claims that some things have been agreed upon, but that there are still others that have yet to be resolved.
Late last week, rumors and reports circulated about Mexico becoming the new location for the tournament. CONMEBOL president Juan Angel Napout came out shortly thereafter and said that it had been decided that the U.S. would remain as host, but CONCACAF issued a statement over the weekend saying that there was still work to be done before anything was official.
The Copa America Centenario – which is supposed to mark the 100-year celebration of CONMEBOL – has been in jeopardy of not happening since an investigation by the U.S. government led to the arrests of several officials back in May. Some of the officials indicted had played a part in creating the tournament.
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What do you think think about this development? Disappointed to hear that the Copa America Centenario might not happen in the U.S.? Should the USMNT compete if the tournament is held elsewhere? Still hoping a resolution is found that would allow it to remain in the United States?
Share your thoughts below.
Ther is a god no copa america
such a bummer.
Disappointing. No platform for me to talk about how great our league will be in 2022. But we might have NFL style video review come next summer, so there is that soccer fans!
Darn, Klinsmann is lucky. But, I hope that after Mexico destroys his circus team in the CONCACAF Cup, maybe he’ll get replaced and our WC qualifying campaign is saved.
In regards to the grind for the players it is a necessary grind. Europe never stops. They go from Euro qualifiers to Euro to WC qualifiers to WC. Playing in games that matter are important. Builds up toughness. Besides playing a bunch of meaningless friendlies won’t help much in the team’s development.
Regarding the Centenario without the US involvement: The tourney needs to be hosted in the US for economic reasons. Ecery stadium will not only be sold out, but bringing in Dolar$$.
International tournaments are not about developing soccer. They’re about making money.
great post ‘caps
Real shame that traffic and their shadiness might screw this up too.. I want this tournament just as much as qualifying for the WC but I am also 100% okay with passing for the reasons you stated… well assuming we qualify for the Olympics and the summer of 2016 isnt completely US Soccer-less
As I commented in an earlier comments section, there are still several issues to be settled. The major issue is who will promote,coordinate, and market the tournament? After FIFA and Traffic Sports fiasco, I’m sure that the US is demanding a US company (probably SUM) or maybe another. This may not go down with CONMEBOL, , it is their tourney after all.There is also the factor that they hve already awarded the Tournament contract to Traffic Sports who have already signed sponsors and even received payments and monies. Have these funds been dstributed and to who? USSF is right to have these questions and get answers.
Because some of the CONMEBOL officials may be un-indicted co-conspirators in the FIFA scandal, how will this be handled by the DOJ.
This (hosting the SA teams in their big Centenario event) would be a tremendous opportunity for US Soccer, as there will be no other Centenario events (at least in our lifetimes) But I understand US Soccer’s reluctance to host an event that may put them at financial and even legal risk should they not take precautions.
It’s up to CONMEBOL, and to a lesser extent CONCACAF, to assure the US and give the USSF the answer and action it will need to proceed to host this event
Reasoned and thoughtful… what gives?
But SUM and Traffic are really the only companies that have the know-how to put on big events like that in the US. It’s not like there are other firms who know the US soccer market well just sitting around waiting for a call.
Huge blow for the team. We rarely play meaningful games outside of CONCACAF. Now next summer is basically a waste.
#ThanksObama (just kidding) After reading the article, part of me sees this as a negotiating ploy. The threat of pulling out has to be there (TWSS!) to establish the BATNA. This tournament won’t be worth the headache without the USA, both as host and as participant.
Clearly no one seems to really know where this thing will be held. SBI included. Wasn’t it just the other day we saw an article suggesting the U.S. Would still be hosting? Makes for good footy fodder tho.
That’s not a missed opportunity-rather, it’s an opportunity gained for the USMNT not to be brutally exposed for its mediocrity and lack of depth!
Meaningless friendlies and never-ending pointless MLS games on tap.
Soccer is surely progressing here, why would Gulati take the chance to compete against real teams in a meaningful competition?
What a joke!
“…….but there is also now no guarantee that the U.S. Men’s National Team takes part in it.”
“How the Copa America Centenario would go about replacing the U.S. as a team in the competition is unknown”
We can’t even take 3rd place in CONCACAF against Mexico, Jamaica and Panama, and now you want to throw in Teams like Argentina, BRAZIL, Columbia, Chile and Uruguay in a competition? Just to add to our despair??? Please Alfredo Hawit or Ted Howard save us the heart break, self-esteem and embarrassment , just withdraw the USMNT from the tournament and host in Mexico…please
LOL!! Are you serious? And at least spell Colombia correctly, you non compos mentis.
Idiocy is a sickness, get that checked as soon as possible Pedro
You silly little nincompoop.
Pedro,
In the interest of clarity:
Dictionary
nincompoop: a foolish or stupid person
Full Definition of NINCOMPOOP: fool, simpleton
Synonyms
berk [British], booby, charlie (also charley) [British], cuckoo, ding-a-ling, dingbat, ding-dong, dipstick, doofus [slang], featherhead, git [British], goose, half-wit, jackass, lunatic, mooncalf, fool, ninny, ninnyhammer, nit [chiefly British], nitwit, nut, nutcase, simp, simpleton, turkey, yo-yo
“the U.S. will not compete in the Copa America Centenario if it is not the host nation”
We are taking our ball and we’re going home.
Wait, Nike is pulling out too?
We most likely would not be invited if were not the host
Am I the only one who wouldn’t be terribly disappointed if this is true? Of course I would love to see some of these games if they’re hosted in the US, but I worry also we are going to grind our players into the ground with the continued international tournaments every summer. A little break could be the best thing for them.
the unmistakeable Ronaldinho
“Am I the only one who wouldn’t be terribly disappointed if this is true?”
I am guessing there are more than a few minimum wage workers in the host cities that would have their income severely damaged by the unexpected pull out of the tournament.
But they don’t matter anyway.
Nothing had ever been formally announced or host cities selected so I doubt workers were planning on the income from the tourney
They’re going to play tournaments anyway. Either with their clubs or their national teams. Might as well get our guys prepared to play in a big competition against strong teams. Besides, I would much rather see these games in the US instead of a bunch of meaningless over-priced exhibition games between European clubs.
This is great news for SUM! Now they can book their meaningless series of big money friendlies as usual for next summer.
While your Traffic friends sit in jail!
WTF
It’s actually good news for the USMNT and it’s fearless leader, JK. Now they won’t get exposed on home soil again. Sad though, for actual fans of US soccer, since it means Klinsi will be spared another humiliation at home. However, there’s hope that after Mexico trashes his team in the CONCACAF Cup, and a couple of bad result in WC qualifying, perhaps he is sacked to the elation of some of us, USMNT fans, and the WC campaign may be saved. Because, as it stands, we are not going to Moscow, not CONFED, nor the WC.
LOL…not qualifying for Russia? Not even JK could manage that. Maybe we’ll need Mexico to score a last second goal to save us.
Remember what happened to Mexico? It could happen to us, and we ain’t getting help from nobody. If Mexico has to lose to leave us out, believe me they will; same goes for other teams. It’s not going to be easy this time, in fact it’s going to be very unsavory if we make it to the World Cup. Mark my words. Btw, Klinsmann is out of luck and losing the locker room.
EC,
Losing the locker room?
How do you know that? And what is that supposed to mean anyway?
You are losing perspective. The team is three years out from Moscow. Right now no one is assured of a trip to Moscow if they even qualify. There is no core of powerful veterans like what Mexico had a few years ago. There is no CR7, there are no galacticos on the USMNT.
If JK has lost the locker room all he has to do is change a few pieces or even all of them if he wants to.
Do you think he wouldn’t drop Mikey or Jones in a heartbeat? Half of you already want that anyway.
So if JK getting fired is what makes you sigh, unfortunately you will have wait a while to put your hand in your pants.