A PYMNTS Company

Soccer Promoter Asks Judge To Revive FIFA Antitrust Suit

By  |  August 29, 2021

Soccer promoter Relevent Sports has asked a federal appeals court in Manhattan to revive antitrust claims against FIFA and US Soccer over a rule banning foreign teams from playing official matches on American soil.

Relevent docketed a notice of appeal late Thursday, August 26, in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, about five weeks after Judge Valerie E. Caproni dismissed the case, reported Bloomberg.

The lawsuit failed to show that US Soccer and FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, reached an unlawful agreement aimed at preventing competition from foreign promoters, Caproni found July 20.

Relevent Sports, which is owned by Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross and operates the International Champions Cup soccer exhibition series, has been engaged in a nearly two-year litigation struggle to prove that US Soccer illegally worked with FIFA to keep regular-season games played by foreign clubs out of the United States.

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.