CONMEBOL is preparing to play the 2020 Copa America in South America, instead of participating in a tournament similar to the Copa America Centenario in North America.
Despite interest from the U.S. Soccer Federation in putting together a repeat of the 2016 Copa America Centenario, CONMEBOL awarded hosting rights to Argentina and Colombia for the 2020 tournament.
CONMEBOL intends to play the Copa America in back-to-back years, with the 2019 edition in Brazil, in order to align with the schedule of the European Championships, which will next take place in 2020 across Europe.
USSF president Carlos Cordeiro said on Wednesday that his offer to CONMEBOL is still on the table in case the South American governing body wants to change its mind.
“Our invitation is still valid,” Cordeiro told ESPNFC. “No doors are closed as of yet,” he said via telephone. “We would like there to be an open, honest conversation about ways in which our two confederations can all come together about the long-term viability of an event that we can play in each other’s territories over many years.
“It’s not about what we call it and who runs it. It’s about growing the game for our fans and our players. We think there is a significant opportunity here that we want to take advantage of.”
The 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup is the next international tournament set to be held on American soil.
There’s a certain level of arrogance from the US Federation to think they can bypass CONCACAF in this type of negotiation and that the US should get to be the sole host of such an event. I suspect CONMEBOL is open to a joint tournament, but there’s no reason it can’t be held in other countries as well.
They (all the countries in S.America) got heavily paid (a little more then 3x the normal amount from a Copa America) from the Copa Centennial back in 2016 so i dunno what the problem is? They are guaranteed the same amount and IMHO, money trumps (no pun intended, lol) over politics
Very difficult to see CONMEBOL cozying up to the USA with Trump at the helm. Agree with him or don’t, but His Orangeness has a rare ability to make enemies and he’s managed to torque off durn near everybody South of the Border with his vociferous anti-migrant rhetoric. And that comment about “sh@thole” countries didn’t help anything either. Also, Venezuela under Maduro is a hot mess that’s blaming the USA for durn near everything happening at the moment…which, for once, the Trump Administration is actually (probably!) not guilty of.
I’d really like to see more Copa America in the USA – and CONMEBOL probably would too, if only for the payday – but it ain’t happening under this current administration, alas.
It’s a shame because it really would help everybody.
wow, they sound so politically aware and moralistic, and I thought it was because USSF didn’t intend to make bribery payoffs
They got called out for corruption already and are pissed to wanting to do anything with the USA. If they continue to support cronyism and nepotism in CONMEBOL, USA won’t be in the picture.
This isn’t about Trump at all, and he might not even be in office past 2020.
Remember when universally-beloved Obama was going to bring the 2016 Olympics to Chicago? How did that work out for us…? Stop taking such a simplistic view of the soccer world. Conmebol may just be saying no as an opening salvo in an effort to squeeze a bigger share of the revenue. Or maybe they truly want to keep this in South America, which is well within their rights.
Well, this take came right from a Brazilian dude I know. They’re dealing with Bolsonaro – the “Trump of the Tropics” – right now…but they still REALLY HATE The Donald. His ability to rub foreign entities the wrong way is nothing short of amazing.
You are correct, though, it could be a negotiating ploy on CONMEBOL’s part. Or perhaps prior posters are correct that it’s just old-fashioned corruption in play. Still, even if so, you’d think they’d want a bigger share of the cheddar, because even that poorly-planned Centennario made some serious bucks, and if they figure out how to tweak it with sponsors and fill stadiums like the Euros do, you’d think they could double or triple that take fairly easily. And that’s a much bigger honeypot to sup from.
Still think this could fly, and the biggest problem is likely optics.