An antitrust lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and FIFA is moving toward the U.S. Supreme Court. The lawsuit comes from Relevent Sports, which wants to host official La Liga games in the United States. Lilevento hopes to bring meaningful matches to the United States to increase the league's popularity.
However, in 2018, FIFA decided to eliminate the possibility of league matches from one country or region being held in another country or region. The policy was enacted two months after La Liga announced a friendly between Barcelona and Girona in Miami in January 2019. Relevent subsequently sued the USSF for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act.
A lower court judge initially granted USSF's motion to dismiss the case. However, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals remanded the case. The appellate court noted that relevent was controversial and did not require the kind of evidence the lower court had argued.
“The relators plausibly argue that the 2018 policy reflects a direct competitor's contractual promise to restrict competition,” the appeals court said.
FIFA and USSF then each applied to dismiss the lawsuit on different grounds. FIFA said the incident involved the USSF and that US Soccer does not represent the USSF in the United States. USSF argued that this claim was invalid based on a previous settlement with Relevent.
Did U.S. Soccer and FIFA violate antitrust policies, according to the Supreme Court?
The Court of Appeals remanded the case because the USSF did not act independently.
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="670" width="1200" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
“Rather, it joined a member association that had adopted a policy that was binding on its members, and invoked that policy as an explicit basis for refusing to approve the proposed match,” the U.S. government wrote.
The Biden administration then sided with Relevent Sports and pushed for the case to be brought to the Supreme Court. USSF previously asked the Supreme Court to take up the case to overturn the Court of Appeals. As a result, the judge heard a brief from the USSF that set out its opinion.
The future of US soccer
The implications of this potential Supreme Court hearing are far-reaching. For example, competitive leagues from other countries may be held in the United States. This issue arose previously when La Liga wanted to hold matches in the United States. If the Supreme Court sides with Relevent Sports, promoters (and many soccer leagues) will be free to stage competitive matches in the United States. Therefore, a hypothetical Barcelona vs. Girona match in Miami Gardens could become a reality.
This is a big deal for U.S. Soccer as well. The original policy of prohibiting other leagues from playing games in the United States prevented competitive foreign soccer from being played in the United States. In a way, you can directly compare European league play to American league play. Friendlies serve a different role as the result does not affect the team's position within the league. However, in the example of Barcelona playing Girona stateside, the match could be pivotal for both teams during the season.
Photo: Imago
