The Footie Fool

Okay, I don’t know the machinations of international confederation soccer so maybe this type of thing happens all the time and I have never really noticed. But Tuesday’s CONCACAF ruling that allows the US to call 7 more players to their already established Gold Cup squad feels dodgy.

In a nutshell, CONCACAF changed the rules on Tuesday to allow a country that participates in both the Confederations Cup and the Gold Cup to call a roster of 30 players, as opposed to 23. This means that the US, who already had named their 23 man roster, will now be able to call an extra 7 players.

Now, I don’t necessarily have a problem with the ruling (although it does once again highlight why the Gold Cup should be on a 4 year and not 2 year cycle), but I do have a problem with the timing. To make this change less than a week before the start of the Gold Cup when all the rosters have been submitted seems to me to give a distinct advantage to the US. As Lord Bob put it in his tweet yesterday;

Just in from CONCACAF: To make games more exciting, the Americans will start all group stage matches with a 1-0 lead.

One has to wonder why this change was made? Apparently, the US didn’t ask for it. It was just something CONCACAF decided to do. So a roster that last week was missing the likes of Jozy Altidore and Conor Casey has now been bolstered.

Maybe this change has more to do with selling tickets on US soil than with establishing a fair playing field for the competition. When the 23 man US roster released last week many saw it as pretty weak, with only a handful of players having more than 5 caps. Now, in the wake of the US run at the Confederations Cup, soccer has been given a bit of a popularity boost in the US. Interest in the game by the mainstream media has picked up, including a mention last week by Stephen Colbert. So, is the roster boost an opportunity to get a few more “name” players onto the pitch to sell a few more tickets to matches?

But forget the crass commercialization theory. I don’t mind that so much. What I do mind is that this rule change will help the US in the Gold Cup. An advantage has been given to the US, long after all other teams had to have their rosters solidified. Calling players after the fact a few days before the start of the tournament just seems wrong.

So, fine, CONCACAF, go ahead and make the rule change. But could this have not waited until AFTER the Gold Cup?