Company behind bid to stage La Liga games in US takes football authority to court

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By Simon Stone
BBC Sport
The organiser of the yearly pre-season International Champions Cup has launched a legal case against US football authorities – a move that may bring the prospect of Premier League matches being played in the USA closer.
Relevent Sports tried to organize a La Liga match between Barcelona and Girona however, the program was scrapped in the face of resistance.
It subsequently attempted to host an Ecuadorian league match in america about 5 May, but also was blocked by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), although Relevent stated it had secured a scene for its fixture and had obtained written approval by both Ecuador’s league as well as its national institution, plus the regional body.
In court papers lodged in New York, Relevent argues the USSF is acting in an anti-competitive manner.
It states the USSF enables the Campeon de Campeones and the annual Super Cup to be played in California.
These games are organised with a rival match promoter, Soccer United Marketing (SUM). The Major League Soccer clubs own collectively SUM and has exclusive rights to advertise the men’s and women’s international teams of the USA – its close connection with the USSF is the subject of legal circumstances.
No date has been set for the proceedings to be heard.
Relevent also says world governing body Fifa’s stated stance that no league matches must be performed in different nations is an opinion, not a regulation.
Relevant is adamant its aim is only to sponsor every season to three or two La Liga matches in the US, even though the organisation’s charismatic executive chairman Charlie Stillitano has said he would relish the opportunity to market Premier League games in the country.
In addition, it has noted that major US sports, especially Major League Baseball and the NFL , have played regular season games from England over the past 12 months to audiences.
The Premier League has previously said it has no plans. An international round – the match – was suggested in 2008 but 2 years later stated the Premier League said that it was no more being contemplated.
The USSF declined to comment on the present legal activity of Relevant but referred to a statement issued after a law suit was obtained in April.
Inside, it stated:”When Relevent asked to sponsor a competitive match match in Miami involving two Ecuadorean clubs, their application went through our review process for international game endorsement, which we conduct on the over a hundred applications we receive each year out of dozens of promoters.
“As a part of the review process, we reached out to the Ecuadorean Football Federation and also [South American Football Confederation] Conmebol to confirm whether they had been conscious that the proposal included a competitive league match. As of now, we have yet to be given a response.
“At exactly the same timewe also reached out to Fifa and verified that the Fifa Council’s October 2018 confirmation stating’the sporting principle that official league matches should be performed within the territory of their respective member institution’.”
Luis Manfredi, the chief executive director of the Ecuadorian league, was used to work for the Spanish league and it’s advised by some that present La Liga president Javier Tebas, regarded as the driving force behind the strategy to host a Spanish league game in the USA, is using relations inside the club to check the current regulations.
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