Soccer Tejas
The Copa America 2024 is now over. It was sold to us here in the United States as an amazing opportunity to live the passion of high quality Fútbol during another “Summer of Soccer”. The Copa America was an opportunity for all of us to live the emotion of the world’s most popular sport right here on American soil. More importantly, with the national teams representing The Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), Canada, Mexico and United States participating; a dress rehearsal for the 2026 Men’s World Cup hosted jointly by the aforementioned countries. This was supposed to be a shining moment in United States Soccer history.
The reality my friends, was something far from the fairy tale marketing messaging that the tournament organizers and their partners envisioned. A disaster? A failure? An embarrassment? It all depends on your perspective, your interests, your agenda, and your expectations. From my perspective, very little was done to “advance” the sport of soccer in the United States.
What we did find, was consistency in the way things have been and apparently continue to be under the Federación Internationale de Football Association (FIFA); more of the same focus on business above all else, an exclusion of the average fan, limited access to independent media and a shameful reality that the governing and organizational bodies, in this case Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL), will continue to deflect responsibility for anything that goes wrong, deny it, pretend it did not happen and count the money on the way out the door.
But none of this should be a surprise to us. FIFA is one of the most corrupt entities on earth and amazingly, even after a well-documented prosecution by the United States government, cities and organizations in our country threw themselves at the governing body chasing the “opportunity” to host World Cup matches in 2026. It appears that the criminal behavior of the past has either been muted, exorcised, or forgotten.
U.S. cities have spent time and money in pitching their communities’ charms as best suited for the hosting of matches during the summer of 2026. No expense was spared in the presentations, and the shiny phrase of “bigger that the Super Bowl” rang loudly in every organizer talking points as they fawned over FIFA representatives who were wined, dined, and had better security details and motorcades than presidential candidates.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a realist, there are no “pure” or “perfect” entities, this includes governments, organizing bodies, universities, corporations, etc. but that reality aside, the chase to “partner” with FIFA has taken a dangerous turn. One that was on pure display in Miami at the Hard Rock Stadium on the night of July 14, 2024, when Argentina took on Colombia in the Copa Final. That evening, what started out as a “celebration” of the world’s most popular sport, nearly ended in a tragedy of massive proportions. The images of chaos, violence, disorganization, and pure fear now live on in social media platforms for all of us to view. Organizers can’t pretend things went well.
So where do we go from here? Commitments have been made for 2026 but what if anything will really change? Will National Football League (NFL) controlled stadiums really prepare natural grass fields on time for matches? Or will the facade of “world class” facilities continue until players and coaches once again complain or get injured? Will tickets for matches in the upcoming mysterious “lottery” go only to sponsors, rights holders and organizers friends/families or will the average fan have a realistic and affordable opportunity to be present at the venues? At this point, do fans even really want to risk their lives at stadiums?
This is not a pleasant picture; this is not an encouraging scenario; this is not advancing the sport of Soccer in our country. It is a reminder that once again our institutions have been highjacked by one of the most corrupt entities on the planet and we have looked the other way with money signs, influence and prestige dancing in our heads and we have forgotten integrity, ethics and more importantly the welfare of fans. We have 2 years to deal with all these issues and I encourage all of us who care for the sport to demand better of our leaders and hold our institutions accountable. It is not hyperbole to say that it is a matter of “life and death”.
Yours in Soccer,
AP
