NEW YORK — The Copa America Centenario might only be the start of joint-competitions between CONMEBOL and CONCACAF teams.
CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez and CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani both stated during a press conference in Manhattan on Friday that they are not opposed to having future tournaments that would include nations from both confederations. Such competitions would likely be different from the Copa America that CONMEBOL hosts in South America every four years, and that the U.S. held this year as a one-off to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the competition.
“We are open and will continue to be open to hearing all proposals and ideas,” said Dominguez. “(We) want to grow soccer, so we’ll be open to all ideas.”
Added Montagliani: “Obviously from a CONCACAF perspective, we’re open to discussions as we move forward, but it’s not something that we’ve been able to really have time to sit down and talk in any concrete type of way.”
One of the biggest challenges is that FIFA would have to add any future tournament to its already-packed international calendar so as to force clubs to release players. U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati, who was also part of the press conference in the Big Apple, said that without that “it’s almost impossible” to have another competition.
Nonetheless, Gulati likes the idea of having a competition that includes teams from both confederations.
“From a U.S. perspective, obviously there’s two elements,” said Gulati. “One is participating in Copa America and two is hosting it. We’re open to all of it.”
Future tournaments are not the only innovative idea that the confederations are open to. Dominguez revealed on Friday that a request has been made to UEFA to have a match between the winners of this summer’s Copa America Centenario and the European Championship currently being played in France.
“We are now waiting for their official response,” said Dominguez.
Argentina and Chile will play in the Copa America Centenario final this Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.