| | CHICAGO -- In a stunning decision that could ultimately test the ability of
U.S. Soccer to control international matches staged in America by foreign
nations, the Federation will announce Tuesday that they have banned all
Mexican club teams from playing friendly matches in the United States for an indefinite period of time.
USSF Spokesman Jim Moorhouse confirmed that USSF is refusing to grant permission to any Mexican club teams due to an unpaid debt carried by Mexican club team Leon: "Apparently this debt is long-standing, and action had to be taken."
The money involved -- $250,000, according to a USSF source -- are small by sporting standards; the debt itself is owed to two current MLS players, Eric Wynalda and Marcelo Balboa. However, the ramifications ultimately could affect deals involving multi-millions of dollars.
Under FIFA rules, individual federations have the right to refuse
permission to any other federation to stage matches on their home soil, and
in turn receive a percentage of the gate. American law, however, is a bit
stickier: Under current trade agreements, American trade partners under
NAFTA are technically allowed to supersede those restrictions, though none have ever tried for fear of reprisals from FIFA, which has never taken kindly to "poaching."
Mexican clubs have long staged games in America in summer months, drawing huge crowds in metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, and until recently, the practice was not controversial. However, with the advent of Major League Soccer, which also stages its games in summer months, a growing sense that Mexican clubs and promoters are poaching valuable American audiences from American business has resulted in some calls for the Federation to clamp down on the exhibitions.
U.S. Soccer has long sat on both sides of the fence, granting permission to
Mexican clubs and making a profit while tacitly agreeing with MLS that these same exhibitions are cutting into the business' bottom line. And, with this decision, the federation is being characteristically cautious.
"While we are in the process of re-evaluating how we grant permission to
foreign clubs overall," says Moorhouse, "once this debt is settled, we will return to a case-by-case review process. This action is not meant to set a precedent, and we think we're OK on the question of restraint of trade."
Not everyone agrees with that reading of the law.
"The key word here is 'restrict'," says Noel Lemmon, promoter and Mundial Sports executive. Mundial Sports has been one of the nation's biggest promoters of Mexican soccer matches. "That just doesn't sit well in U.S. law. I do agree that [USSF] need to control the Mexican situation a bit better than they have, but they're just as guilty in playing games. You want to ban clubs, but you're still going to play Mexico?:
The USA will indeed allow Mexico to play in the TFC-sponsored Gold Cup in February of 2000, and Mexico is one of three Nike Cup visitors in June.
"I don't see how you can ban a nation for the behavior of one club. If it
applies to clubs, it should also apply to national teams," continues Lemmon.
Lemmon, of course, could be a big loser if this situation does not get
resolved; when contacted by ESPN.com, Lemmon said that he was just hearing of the decision from the reporter and that he would have to apply for a match permission before making any other comment. "I guess I'll just have to see," says Lemmon.
The big winner could ultimately be MLS, which might have the burden of
seeing Mexican clubs draw huge crowds while American club teams languish in half-full stadia eased.
"We respect U.S. Soccer's decision to temporarily restrain
Mexican teams from playing in the USA. Soccer is becoming more integrated in the United States and MLS will continue to work closely with U.S. Soccer regarding international matches," said Dan Courtemanche, MLS Vice President of Communications.
Many GMs around the league have expressed frustration; Chicago GM Peter Wilt was quoted in this column last summer as being "concerned" at how his audience fell off after a spell in 1999 that saw a slew of international games played at Soldier Field.
"It goes both ways, of course," said Wilt Monday from his office in Chicago. "We had hopes to bring in some Mexican club teams to play either the Fire or as part of a double-header package." The Fire has, in the past two years, staged international matches from which they have then taken a cut of the gate.
"In general, we would like to see Mexican teams play here," says Wilt. "We think that anything that prevents that would be disappointing."
Jamie Trecker, editor of Kick! magazine, writes regularly for ESPN.com. You may e-mail him at jamie_trecker@go.com; while he guarantees he will read all letters, he regrets that he cannot guarantee a reply because of overwhelming volume. | |
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