Commentary: MLS made a colossal mistake to drop U.S. Open Cup. How does the league not get that?
LA TimesInter Miami forward Lionel Messi is hugged by MLS Commissioner Don Garber, center right, during a ceremony honoring Messi before a friendly match against New York City FC on Nov. 10. The league’s attempt to limit its participation in the U.S. Open Cup to developmental MLS Next Pro players, knee-capping the country’s oldest national soccer competition, was a colossal mistake. And U.S. Soccer appears to be on firm ground with the decision since one of the rules guiding its sanction of MLS as a first-division league requires that all “U.S.-based teams must participate in all representative U.S. Soccer and CONCACAF competitions for which they are eligible.” That includes the U.S. Open Cup. Partly as a result, LAFC played a league-record 53 times in 41 weeks, participating in the MLS regular season and playoffs, the U.S. Open Cup, the Leagues Cup, the CONCACAF Champions League and Campeones Cup. The more likely motives behind the league’s attempt to pull out of the U.S. Open Cup were cash and control, essentially two sides of the same coin.
History of this topic
LAFC celebrates finally snapping its finals skid, winning the U.S. Open Cup
LA Times
LAFC treats U.S. Open Cup like a top prize as it reaches semifinals
LA Times
Commentary: LAFC-Galaxy hope rivalry’s luster shines when they meet again in U.S. Open Cup
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