Relevent Sports’ antitrust lawsuit against U.S. Soccer and FIFA took a new twist when Relevent Sports agreed to dismiss FIFA from the suit.
FIFA has agreed to abide by any injunction preventing soccer’s world governing body from enforcing its ban on foreign league matches being played on U.S. soil.
The filing of the stipulation of dismissal by Relevent and FIFA must be approved by U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni of the Southern District of New York.
• Background: Relevent Sports filed the lawsuit after efforts to play a Spanish LaLiga match in 2018 and an Ecuadoran league match in 2019 were blocked by U.S. Soccer, which sanctions the playing of international matches.
In October 2018, the FIFA Council prohibited the staging of official games outside of the participant league’s home country, emphasizing “the sporting principle that official league matches must be played within the territory of the respective member association.”
In March 2023, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived the case after it had been dismissed by Caproni in 2021 on the grounds that U.S. Soccer had not conspired with FIFA to block the organization of competitive league and cup matches involving foreign clubs in the United States.
The U.S. solicitor general recently filed a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court that it should deny U.S. Soccer’s efforts to ward off the lawsuit on a legal issue related to an antitrust threshold required in the pleadings.
• FIFA’s statement on Monday: “FIFA and Relevent have agreed to resolve this matter as it concerns FIFA, pending FIFA’s consideration of changes to existing FIFA policies with respect to playing official season games outside of a league’s home territory. FIFA has not admitted any liability and continues to deny the legal claims alleged in Relevent’s complaint.”
FIFA would have a hard time arguing that league and cup matches can’t be played outside home territory with the Spanish Supercup being played in Saudi Arabia. Or does a supercup not count as a domestic cup for these purposes?