MLS Teams Might Dispute Copa Libertadores in the Near Future

Maybe this will not be any news for you, but I was surprised when I first read it this morning.

Nicolas Leoz, president of CONMEBOL, the South American confederation, spoke in an interview to the Brazilian sports newspaper Lance about the possibility of MLS teams joining Copa Libertadores, the most important tournament of the Americas.

If confirmed, this will be a great step both for American soccer and the tournament. CONMEBOL will have access to a greater market, and will probably negotiate bigger sponsorships and rights of transmission. Also, American clubs disputing La Copa will probably improve over time (which happened with Mexican sides, who joined the cup 13 years ago), so it's a win-win deal.

But, there are some problems. The first one being the lack of organization. This year, for the first time since its creation, the winner of La Copa Sudamericana (the South American equivalent of UEFA Cup) will qualify for the next year's Libertadores. They decided to do it because bigger clubs, specially Brazilian ones, often overlooked this competition.

It also created greater confusion: In the present format of the Libertadores, the defending champions plus 5 teams from Brazil and Argentina and 3 teams from Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and invitees from Mexico qualify. There was an intense discussion over how the Sudamericana's winner would qualify, and there was a point in which they took one Brazilian berth because the defending champion, Internacional de Porto Alegre, is from Brazil. If they made this mess with one more qualifier, think how will they fit three more clubs from MLS.

There are some other minor geographical issues as well. La Copa begins in the end of Summer in Southern hemisphere. Imagine the just reformed New York Cosmos leaving their country, in which it will be winter, to play against Flamengo in Brazilian summer (or the contrary, as many South American countries doesn't have snowy winter). There will be long travels, but I think it will be a problem only for the first time MLS teams participates because most other South American clubs, including those from Mexico, are used to it. 

I think it's a valid experience, and, if well organized, the pros will probably surpass it the cons.