January 24 – 10-time NBA All-Star, Carmelo Anthony, is one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, and a huge fan of the ‘Beautiful Game’. This week he was in court, however, it wasn’t the usual hardwood but a Brooklyn Federal Courthouse as the US Soccer/MLS v NASL trial entered its second week, and Anthony was on the witness stand.
Anthony, purchased Puerto Rico FC in the North American Soccer League in 2015 and was called to testify in the trial.
“I had an opportunity to revitalise the island, bring sports to the island,” Anthony testified in court. “This was the route I chose to take to bring something back to my island.”
The North America Soccer League (NASL) are hoping to prove that the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and Major League Soccer conspired together to prevent the league (NASL) from competing with MLS by denying them Division I and then Division II accreditation, leading to the league’s inevitable failure.
By calling someone with the profile of Anthony, who incidentally played for the New York Knicks, the NASL attorneys are hoping that the stardust of the NBA great will sway the jury into looking favourably on their suit.
Puerto Rico FC began playing in the NASL in the 2016 season.
“I saw happiness, joy,” Anthony said. He described how the club became a team the community rallied behind. “That’s when I knew I had something that was getting good.”
That joy was short-lived though as the destruction in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria in September 2017, left the team without a stadium to play in. The team did play some games in Florida, but they couldn’t re-establish a foothold on the island.
It was in this period that USSF denied the NASL’s application for Division II sanctioning for the 2018 season, forcing the league to suspend its operations.
While on the stand, Keisha-Ann G. Gray of Proskauer Rose, representing Major League Soccer, pointed to Anthony’s prior deposition where he testified that Puerto Rico FC failed to return to the pitch because of Hurricane Maria, rather than USSF’s sanctioning denial.
Anthony’s testimony lasted about an hour. Before he took the stand former USSF president Sunil Gulati was questioned.
The trial is expected to last three weeks.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1737717729labto1737717729ofdlr1737717729owedi1737717729sni@o1737717729fni1737717729