“We are continuing to work with CONMEBOL, the US Soccer Federation and all other stakeholders on hosting the Copa America Centenario tournament in the United States“, CONCACAF said. A report from the New York Times claimed that the organizers had not met all of the requests made by U.S. Soccer to clear them of any potential legal liability in the wake of the U.S. Justice Department’s indictments of FIFA officials so the federation did not want to host or participate.
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“The meeting was very positive and we emerged from the meeting with the common goal of holding the Copa America Centenario in the United States”, said CONCACAF spokesman Jurgen Mainka, per ESPNFC.
Conmebol released a statement last week that Paraguayan Juan Angel Napout, the Conmebol president, and Honduran Alfredo Hawit, the interim president of Concacaf, will meet Thursday in Mexico City to review how the tournament will be organized, emphasizing that both confederations remained firm in the belief that the 100th anniversary of the tournament should be commemorated in 2016. Officials from U.S. Soccer are not expected to attend. Planning for the tournament has been delayed since May, when 14 top soccer and marketing officials were arrested as part of a wider investigation into corruption in the sport in which authorities charged that kickback schemes were linked to the Copa.
USMNT’s participation in Copa America is still up in the air.
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Mainka also quashed speculation Mexico is being considered as an alternative site for the June 3-26 2016 tournament. Whether the USA plays or not, and whether U.S. Soccer is involved or not, matches with Mexico, Brazil and Argentina will still sell out massive National Football League stadiums at huge prices. But organizing a 16-team tournament in multiple cities is an ambitious undertaking, and with less than nine months before the opening kickoff is scheduled, all parties are eager for a resolution.
