2000 U.S. Cup - Pre-tournament Controversy

Pre-tournament Controversy

The USSF had deliberately scheduled the 2000 U.S. Cup to fall during the 2000 European Championship. USSF hoped to attract two European nations from the pool of countries that failed to qualify for the Euro Cup. Once Euro Cup qualifications determined the final competitors, the USSF invited Ireland, Russia and Scotland, but only Ireland accepted the offer. The USSF then invited South Africa, an African Cup semi-finalist six months earlier. However, South Africa elected to use the U.S. Cup to give several younger players international experience and therefore did not bring its full senior team. While both the lack of European participation and South Africa's decision on player selection disappointed USSF, these paled in comparison to the controversy surrounding Mexico's participation.

After the 1999 U.S. Cup, USSF had negotiated a three year contract with the Mexican Soccer Federation, obliging Mexico to send its full international team to the next three U.S. Cups. By the time the 2000 Cup was staged, three major developments threatened Mexico's participation. First, in May 2000 Alberto de la Torre became the new Mexican Football Association president. He took control of a federation which had just failed to qualify for the Summer Olympics and had lost badly at the Gold Cup. He quickly fired Hugo Enrique Kiese, chief of the national team commission and the official most responsible for Mexico's three year contract with USSF. De la Torre was publicly critical of both Kiese and the U.S. Cup contract. To make matters worse, the Mexican League had also extended its season due to weathered out games. This meant that many of the top Mexican players would still be in the post-season during the tournament. Finally, FIFA had pressured CONCACAF to alter its World Cup qualification schedule, making the games earlier than anticipated. In fact, the United States and Mexican teams would leave the U.S. Cup and go immediately into preparation for those games. This meant that Mexican players, coming from their domestic league schedule, would have no time to rest before beginning a World Cup qualification campaign. Therefore, de la Torre, just weeks before the cup, asked USSF to reschedule it for August. With Ireland and South Africa confirmed and stadiums scheduled, USSF refused. De la Torre then told USSF that he would refuse to send the Mexican team, but USSF threatened a lawsuit, as well as FIFA sanctions. De la Torre brought Kiese back into the Mexican Federation and sent him to break the news to USSF, Mexico would send its "national team", but it would look a lot like the UNAM Pumas. After the tournament, USSF considered canceling its U.S. Cup contract with Mexico, a point which became moot as the 2000 tournament was the last played.