By Andrew Warshaw
December 31 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter (pictured) has criticized the progress of the professional game in the United States.
When they were granted the 1994 World Cup, one of the pledges made by the American organizers was that it would help the country kick on in terms of a fully fledged competitive league.
But while Major League Soccer has certainly developed its own niche and the grassroots game has taken off, Blatter clearly believes not enough has been done in the 18 years since to grow the sport at elite level.
“Soccer is the most popular game among the youth – not American football or baseball – but there is not yet a strong football league,” Blatter said in an end-of-year interview with Al-Jazeera.
Having started in 1996, Blatter believes MLS should have made more of an impact. “No professional leagues (are) recognized by American society,” he said.
Although the MLS has poor ratings on free-to-air television, Blatter’s remarks are bound to cause embarrassment both to MLS executives and the US Soccer Federation – and also perhaps some surprise given that he is understood to have supported the United States to host the 2022 World Cup which went instead to Qatar.
Contact the writer of this story at andrew.warshaw@insideworldfootball .biz