The official word from Major League Soccer is that their first teams will not be playing in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. A press release from the league on Friday said that the choice was made by a vote of the team owners. This means that teams will send their division-three MLS NEXT […]
The official word from Major League Soccer is that their first teams will not be playing in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
A press release from the league on Friday said that the choice was made by a vote of the team owners. This means that teams will instead send their division three MLS NEXT Pro teams to compete.
Directors of the Major League Soccer said that the decision was made to give younger players a chance to play in the game and to make scheduling easier.
“This choice will give up-and-coming professional players more chances to compete in meaningful ways.” The league said in a statement that the move also helps the MLS regular season by making the schedule less crowded and freeing up up to six weekday match dates.
While MLS said they were pulling out of the U.S. Open Cup, they also said they were “committed to working with U.S. Soccer to evolve and elevate the Open Cup for everyone involved in the years ahead.”
The US Open Cup has given smaller teams a rare chance in the past
There have been shockwaves in the American soccer world about the move. The U.S. Open Cup is, after all, the country’s oldest soccer tournament that is still going strong. The first event was held in 1914 and was called the National Challenge Cup. It started more than 80 years before Major League Soccer.
Every season, about 100 teams play in the U.S. Open Cup. All professional soccer teams and some amateur teams that meet the requirements play in the competition.
Many soccer fans in the United States love the game because it gives smaller teams a rare chance to play the big teams. In MLS, there is no such thing as promotion and relegation. Instead, the same teams play in the top flight every year. Fans found it more interesting and fun when MLS teams played in the U.S. Open Cup. Smaller teams also loved playing against big names like Lionel Messi and Lorenzo Insigne.
With vote, MLS may have broken official US Soccer rules
The choice to pull out of the competition could also be against the Pro League Standards set by the USSF. It looks like the rules were changed in March of this year, and now division 1 (MLS) teams are required to play in the U.S. Open Cup.
The detailed rules for American soccer clubs, which can be found on page nine, make it clear that “U.S.-based teams must participate in all representative U.S. Soccer and CONCACAF competitions for which they are eligible.”
It’s still unclear whether the USSF will stick to their guns when it comes to the official rules book. Still, the US soccer governing body said they didn’t find out about the decision until Friday night, when it was passed by a vote.
The USSF said in a statement, “Major League Soccer told U.S. Soccer today of their vote regarding the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.” “Our staff is reviewing right now.” The historic U.S. Open Cup is still very important to U.S. Soccer and its players, and we’re looking forward to talking with everyone involved about how to make it even better in the future.
However, there were signs recently that MLS teams were not too excited about playing in the U.S. Open Cup. In May, Commissioner Don Garber said that the competition wasn’t very good.
After a month, Bob Foose, executive director of the Major League Soccer Players Association, said that top players don’t look forward to playing in the U.S. Open Cup.
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