Concacaf president Jeffrey Webb said in an interview* today that the Gold Cup shouldn't always be held in the same country. (Spanish link)
"I believe that the Gold Cup shouldn't always be held in just one country. It's the best tournament in the area and all [Concacaf's] members should have the possibility to receive the big prize that is this tournament. The decision to hold it in the U.S. has been for financial reasons exclusively," Webb said in remarks printed in Spanish.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Well, yes. The U.S. is home to almost 40-million Spanish-speaking adults, the vast majority of which have roots in Mexico or Central America. Its stadium infrastructure is unparalleled in the region and those stadiums fill up in a way that would not happen elsewhere. The U.S. has hosted every edition of the biennial tournament since 1991, except for in 1993 and 2003. It just kind of makes sense.
If the words emitting from Webb's mouth are sincere and the idea is not simply to hold the tournament in Mexico, it means Canada would be an obvious choice as host. Any bid coming from Central America would likely have to be shared among countries; Central America could certainly muster more soccer-specific venues than Canada, it's all the other stuff that goes along with hosting a tournament where Canada would be ahead. That said, Costa Rica did recently host a successful U17 women's World Cup.
These admittedly as-yet-meaningless musing from Webb represent an interesting contrast with Concacaf's decision to play the Copa Centroamericana in the U.S. for the first time this September. The logic on that one is solid: Central Americans in the U.S. have far more money to spend on football than Central Americans in Central America. Moving in the opposite direction represents an intriguing step. Spanish television networks in the U.S. would still get their huge TV audiences, regardless of where the Gold Cup takes place. Ticket sales and sponsorship would take the hit and it's not clear there would be any benefit in the sense of the 'expanding into new markets' rhetoric FIFA uses to justify awarding tournaments to places like Qatar.
It's also worth nothing that Webb mentions Concacaf might allow Mexico to compete in the 2015 Copa America with a full squad. (Mexico has only been permitted a sort of U23 side in the Copa so as to preserve the 'integrity' of the Gold Cup and ensure Mexico's full focus lay there.) On the same day Webb spoke about spreading the Gold Cup around, he hinted at devaluing it.
Grant Surridge focuses much of his writing for CSN on the Spanish-speaking Concacaf world. You can follow him on twitter @SCGGrant
*I'm not certain whether Al Dia did the interview, but I couldn't find Webb's comments elsewhere online