COMMISSO TO CORDEIRO
New York Cosmos – Improper for MLS, SUM and USL reps to steer Federation away from $500 million proposal.
New York Cosmos owner Rocco B. Commisso says that conflicted U.S. Soccer Federation board members should not have participated in the decision-making process of his $500 million proposal to restart the North American Soccer League.
In a letter dated June 6 to USSF President Carlos Cordeiro, Commisso wrote that, “…it appears that USSF permitted conflicted board members with direct ties to MLS, SUM and USL, including Carlos Bocanegra, John Collins, Don Garber, Sunil Gulati and Steve Malik, to participate in the deliberations about my proposal and steer the Board to not act on my request.”
“This was a continuation of the USSF’s unlawful antitrust conspiracy and also in violation of the New York Not-For-Profit Law which governs USSF,” Commisso wrote.
“Tragically, it is once again abundantly clear that USSF is refusing to treat NASL the same as USSF’s favored leagues, MLS and USL, and is still doing everything possible to destroy NASL as a competitor to those leagues,” he added.
In April, Commisso had proposed to the USSF that he would be willing to lead a $500 million investment in the NASL, if the federation had given him a 10-year runaway for the league to comply with Professional League Standards, if they remain in effect.
That request was rejected by the federation last week.
Last year the USSF rescinded the NASL’s Division 2 status. The league is on hiatus for 2018.
“In these circumstances, USSF’s decision that NASL’s only alternative is to apply for annual sanctioning under anticompetitive Professional League Standards, which the USSF has designed with MLS to make it impossible for a new entrant like the NASL to meet, is disingenuous, unlawful and against the best interests of soccer in this country,” Commisso wrote. “Any such application would be an exercise in futility, as it would not even offer the possibility of the ten-year runway to compliance that the NASL has requested in order to justify its proposed $500 million investment in soccer, which would provide new opportunities for fans and players alike.”
Commisso added that he was “profoundly disappointed by this outcome.”
“I had hoped that you were sincere about your campaign promises to provide for a new era of transparency and fairness for soccer in this country,” he wrote to Cordeiro. “Instead, the USSF has, once again, permitted those aligned with MLS, USL and SUM, like Mr. Garber and Mr. Gulati, to dominate USSF decision-making and to favor their personal interests over the best interests of soccer in this country.”
