U.S. Soccer’s offer for new tournament gets rejected

South America’s top soccer official on Thursday rejected an invitation to take part in a proposed intercontinental tournament hosted and financed by U.S. Soccer in summer 2020, saying the continent’s governing body preferred to maintain the primacy of its own continental championship, the Copa América.

U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro had made the offer for a combined tournament featuring South America’s 10 teams and six from the region comprising North and Central America and the Caribbean in a letter recently. U.S. Soccer’s offer would have been worth tens of millions of dollars for the South American teams, their regional rivals who took part, and the two confederations governing soccer in the Americas.

But in a letter to Cordeiro, first reported by Brazilian news outlet Globo, the president of the South American federation, Alejandro Dominguez, categorically rejected the invitation to a proposed Continental Cup in 2020. Dominguez’s letter cited a lack of FIFA approval for the new event but also a preference to prioritize the Copa América, which is the oldest international soccer championship in the world.

Last year, officials from the South American confederation, CONMEBOL, announced plans to shift the Copa América to a quadrennial schedule starting in the summer of 2020.

But U.S. Soccer, frustrated by a lack of progress in talks for a combined international tournament, invited South America’s 10 soccer federations to take part in a 16-team championship held in the United States. The framework of the new tournament would have been similar to the 2016 Copa América Centenario, a onetime tournament celebrating the event’s 100th anniversary that was a financial and sporting success. U.S. Soccer sweetened its offer for 2020 with nearly $200 million in guarantees to the visiting teams and their confederations.

In his letter inviting the South Americans, Cordeiro said U.S. Soccer was offering to underwrite the new event and guarantee each nation — and both confederations — millions of dollars in appearance fees, subsidized travel and bonuses for each point earned. The champions could take home a prize of more than $11 million. CONMEBOL and its northern neighbor, CONCACAF, would receive $50 million each to go along. Cordeiro invited CONMEBOL officials to a meeting in Miami to discuss the proposal.

U.S. Soccer did not immediately reply to a request for comment on CONMEBOL’s decision to decline the offer.

For the past year, soccer officials across the Americas have held discussions about creating a quadrennial tournament involving national teams from both continents. The Copa América will take place as planned this summer in Brazil, with Japan and Qatar filling the two guest spots often reserved for teams from CONCACAF. CONCACAF will hold its own regional championship, the Gold Cup, at the same time.

If the offer to CONMEBOL is not revived, U.S. Soccer is expected to press ahead with plans for a scaleddown tournament featuring national teams from other continents, potentially including Africa and Asia.