I'm confused this morning. And not just because I spent an hour and a half exposed to the inanity that is the Winning Ugly Radio Show last night. I'm confused because I've just read something that baffles me completely.
A little background if you will:
If you pay attention to soccer in this hemisphere, you're probably aware of Copa Libertadores, Mexico, and the fallout over the H1N1 virus. Mexican clubs have now pulled out of the competition after a massive overreaction by CONMEBOL clubs that some are labeling "discrimination". The South American competition, perhaps the second most prestigious club tournament in the world, far outweighed the CONCACAF Champions Cup (and now League) for Mexican clubs, and rightly so. Mexico's withdrawal has opened a giant can of football worms, and things are very up in the air on the FMF's tournament future.
CONMEBOL may have burned their bridge to Mexico for good, and CONCACAF could be the beneficiary. If Mexican clubs can longer look for glory in the Copa Libertadores, it stands to reason the the CONCACAF Champions League will take on greater importance.
But that's not why I called you all here today. Instead, I'd like to highlight a single paragraph from a story on the above situation that appeared yesterday on the Guardian Online. Said piece was written by one Matt Scott, and while I have no previous knowledge of the man, who might be worth talking to. Apparently he knows some things that I don't.
The paragraph:
That (the withdrawal of FMF clubs from the Copa Libertadores) will push it into the embrace of Concacaf and the MLS, whose long-term strategy, Fifa permitting, is to include Mexican clubs in its competition in a move that would make the US league a genuine global player in terms of supporter interest and revenue.
Did you catch it? Read it again.
Huh? Major League Soccer's long term strategy is to include Mexican clubs in its competition? Since when?
I assume you're as confused as I am, or perhaps you've quickly surmised that Mr. Scott has absolutely no idea what he's talking about. Previous to the paragraph above, he also states the Mexico plays in CONMEBOL (at least that's what I think he meant; I suppose he could have been attempting to say that Mexican clubs play in the Libertadores, which is a CONMEBOL competition, but that's a big leap to make from the sentence he wrote).
Maybe he meant SuperLiga. Maybe he got confused about the relationship between MLS and the FMF. Maybe it was an honest mistake, the result of a convoluted federation/region/club situation on this side of the Atlantic.
Maybe the Guardian needs to review its articles just a little better, and maybe they should kindly advise Mr. Scott not to write about soccer in the Americas.
Or am I missing something here, and this is some comedy piece disguised as proper soccer writing?
