FIFA signed an agreement with the company specialized in the organization of sporting events Relevent Sports to study how to bring European league matches to the United States.
Both parties have brought closer positions after Relevent Sports sued the United States Soccer Federation (US Soccer) and Fifa in 2018 for “close the doors of the American country to international football”.
By then, Relevant Sports accused US Soccer and FIFA of excluding top-level matches in the United Statesthus depriving American soccer fans of such a spectacle and violating antitrust law.
Specifically, six years ago, Relevent Sports announced plans to host a regular-season LaLiga match in Miami between Barcelona and Girona, to which The body chaired by Gianni Infantino alleged that removing the clash from Spain was against its policy.
At the time, the administration of the president of United States, Joe Biden, sided with promoter who filed antitrust lawsuit against FIFA and the United States Soccer Federation about world football’s governing body’s policy against holding league games in other countries and asked the Supreme Court to allow the case to proceed to trial.
Regulatory changes
Although no further details of the agreement between the parties have been revealed, several sources have stated that future collaboration between Fifa and Relevant Sports paves the way to bring international leagues to the United States. For his part, the company’s executive director, Danny Sillman, stressed that, as a result of the agreement, FIFA will consider changes to its rules on whether matches can be played outside a league’s home territory.
Football is one of the few disciplines that is not increasing its international presence by holding matches abroad. While the National Basketball Association (NBA) or the National Football League (NFL) play matches outside their borders, the proposal does not seem to fit for FIFA and UEFA.
Specifically, the American football competition announced in February that it will cross the ocean to play regular phase matches in Spain: the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, in Madrid, has been chosen to host the match between the Miami Dolphins against the Chicago Bears.
In addition, the NBA also focused on Spain, organizing in October of last year a friendly match between Real Madrid and Dallas Mavericks, after eight years without setting foot in the country. The basketball competition that is committed to internationalization is also considering returning to Paris this year. In fact, at the beginning of 2024, The commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, and the president of the French Republic, Emmanuele Macron, held a meeting so that in 2024 a regular NBA league game could be played again in France.
Source: Ambito
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