European soccer leagues insist they have no plans for games in the US. A lawsuit could change that
GENEVA (AP) — Leaders of top European soccer leagues say they have no plans to take games to the United States, though acknowledged that could change pending a lawsuit in Manhattan.
FIFA has shifted its long-time policy of blocking domestic league games being played on the territory of another member federation by withdrawing this month from an antitrust suit filed by U.S. promoter Relevent Sports. The suit is also against the U.S. Soccer Federation.
If league games could be organized abroad, European leagues and clubs — especially in England and Spain — could expect offers from the United States, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
“It’s not part of our current plans, it really isn’t,” English Premier League CEO Richard Masters said on Friday at a news conference after the 34-nation European Leagues group met in London.
Still, Masters said uncertainty over the court case meant “no one quite knows exactly what is happening but the door looks ajar potentially in America, at any rate, for matches abroad.”