Logjam of events will force decisions from Concacaf

Like everyone else, the only thing execs can do at this point is plan...and even then that's not a great option

Let’s Get Concacafed, as if we didn’t have a bunch of shows still to catch up on.

Concacaf president Victor Montagliani is just like you: Stuck at home on conference calls.

The Canadian executive spoke with reporters yesterday and struck a very rational tone as he discussed when the organization would be able to get the ball rolling again. “I’d rather be realistic,” he said at one point, noting that while a June or July return would be great, it’s unlikely the dangers posed by the coronavirus pandemic will be cleared by then.

“We don’t know what the calendar is going to be like,” Montagliani said. “A lot of it is going to be based on what our health authorities say when we get the green light, not only to be up and running from a playing standpoint but also from a travel standpoint which is obviously very paramount to international football.”

The fact is Concacaf is going to have to make decisions about what changes.

It has a number of events currently in limbo: The Concacaf Champions League, the Nations League Final Four, Gold Cup qualification and Olympic qualification. But even under the best-case scenario, pushing those events back will create a logjam of events. That’s not an ideal situation when your product relies on healthy men and women being able run around the field and perform at a high level - something that requires rest.

And the confederation wants those events to go ahead. Think about the investment put into the Nations League, getting teams and referees and broadcast crews to some of the Caribbean islands for matches attended by a few thousand people. How is Concacaf going to make that money back? It planned to have a nice payoff with the Final Four and the potential of a U.S.-Mexico final at the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

This edition of the CCL was shaping up to be one of the most exciting ever, with LAFC set for a marquee matchup against Cruz Azul, just one goal between New York City FC and Tigres heading into the Volcan plus the Thierry Henry-led Montreal Impact against spoilers Olimpia in Honduras.

But now the confederation not only will have to push things back, it also will have to take a back seat. The president pointed out that while leagues like the NBA and MLB have mostly just themselves to worry about, Concacaf also has to take into account the domestic leagues.

With Liga MX now optimistically shooting for a summer restart and MLS continuing to push back its potential start date, there simply won’t be much room in the calendar for these Concacaf competitions.

The president asked if it would be realistic or fair for Concacaf to set international dates just weeks after a restart and noted the probability is “not very high” international matches will take place in September “even sitting here in April.”

If there are no fall matches, World Cup qualification will have to change. The new format already was a bit wonky, with the Hex decided based on FIFA rankings. Now, teams like Canada trying to force their way into the top six haven’t been able to boost their ranking with March games and are on the outside looking in.

“To be honest, it brings in a little bit of an integrity issue when teams haven't been able to play,” the president said, noting “If the format needs to change, then it needs to change.”

It could be a hexagonal or, Montagliani joked, it could be another shape in a kids’ block set.

So, like everyone else, the only thing Concacaf can do is try its best to plan (Montagliani made several references to a working group trying to lay out a map) and then watch those plans become obsolete. Then, try and plan again.

We all hope there’s a solution to this crisis soon, and obviously soccer isn’t even in the top five on the list of important things to get situated first.

Lord willing, we find a vaccine that’s ready to go way sooner than expected, we get to watch the CCL, the Nations League Final Four and Gold Cup qualification goes ahead as planned. We’re all drinking Jarritos and watching another Gold Cup in summer 2021.

More likely, Montagliani and his associates will have difficult calls to make, trying to make an unfair setup as fair as possible as they try to squeeze months of missed soccer into an increasingly shrinking window of time.

Maybe we’ll get lucky and it will result in something super weird, like a straight knockout tournament. Somehow it’ll end up with Honduras, Suriname and the Bahamas as our World Cup representatives. At least that would make me smile again.

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The descent of the Ascenso

Just two weeks ago, we talked about the possibility of promotion/relegation systems going away in the Concacaf region, with Liga MX owners discussing the idea of putting pro/rel on hold until 2026 and potentially revamping the league as a development league.

With news today that Ascenso owners have voted to cancel the rest of the season, players and owners in the second division have launched another round of protests against the idea of scrapping promotion.

“Many times decisions have been taken without taking the principal actor of football into account. This isn’t just a game, it’s my job,” reads a statement shared by many players in the Ascenso. “Taking away promotion not only affects the competition, it leaves us without more opportunities to develop, without being able to take food home to our families.”

Carlos “Gullit” Pena, formerly of Leon, Chivas and Rangers, among others, and now of Correcaminos accused “a few who want to kill football” of holding back the game in Mexico.

The president of Pena’s club, Miguel Mansur Pedraza, posted a video on the club’s social media lashing out against the owners of big clubs who want to change the system.

Some people have decided to respond to the Correcaminos president by…dunking on Correcaminos? I didn’t know the club even had enemies, but Victoria is exactly the type of city that should have a club.

The city in Tamaulipas, population just over 300,000, has produced players like Sporting Kansas City forward Alan Pulido and is certainly capable of producing more. With the right marketing strategy and media deal, there’s no reason a team couldn’t be not only successful but the pillar of a community that frankly needs one.

Is it on Correcaminos for not being that pillar sooner? Is it on Liga MX owners? The Mexican federation? I’m not sure. What I do know is that it’s a shame we’re at the point of going to one true division of professional soccer in Mexico when it should have a vibrant system with deep roots.

You can hear more on the Mexican Onda podcast, obviously recorded before today’s news, with myself, Cesar Hernandez and Tom Marshall taking in-depth about the future of the Mexican second division.

Later this week!

I keep saying I’ll do my Concacaf XI, and maybe Thursday will be the day. In the meantime, drop this newsletter in your group chat and let your buddies know that it’s ‘actually pretty cool. Worth a sign up.”