Last week, Chuck Blazer (CONCACAF general secretary) said that “four or five years ago” there were talks involving potential sponsors about a 10/6 super-tournament, but that idea was rejected at the time.
Still, Blazer didn’t discard the idea for the future. “Other configurations might lend themselves to being possible,” he said. “Economic parameters would need to be met. The Gold Cup is the main source of revenue to support the youth programs and competitions that we do. If we did [a Copa Américas], we would have to see how it would replace what currently exists.”
Full article on Grant Wahl's SI.com blog.
O Globo jumped the gun (or maybe they know more) and announced that the 2015 Copa America could feature 10 teams from CONMEBOL and 6 from CONCACAF.
it's good... if 10/6 super-tournament has the sponsors for The Gold Cup.
ReplyDeleteIt would be indeed a very interesting tournament.
ReplyDeleteI've had thoughts on this type of thing before. But I don't think CONMEBOL should just be handed 10 spots, despite the region's strength. Maybe some playoffs. The likes of Bolivia, Peru and Venezuela are a clear step down from the others.
ReplyDeletePanama for instance already proved this year that they can handle Venezuela, beating them home and away in a couple of friendlies. They also have a victory over Peru under the belt as well this year.
Of course, it's all just a pipe dream right now anyway.
Another idea (and I like this one) if it ever became a reality would be the top 8 in CONCACAF from the new system of World Cup qualifying qualify, plus the top 8 from CONMEBOL. That would give teams there that had already been eliminated from the World Cup something to fight over still.
ReplyDeleteAnd then you could have two from each confederation to a group.
Or another variation, 7th and 8th in CONCACAF fight 9th and 10th in CONMEBOL in playoffs. That would give the bottom two in a group in CONCACAF's final round something to fight over even if both got eliminated from World Cup contention.